Man vs. Bear

The whole internet seems to be flooded with this at the moment. I have several comments to make. First, the scenario is riddled with ambiguities that could potentially change women's answers, or men's perception thereof. How close is the man/bear? Is an encounter guaranteed? What is the chance that the bear has cubs? Does the man have a gun? What if she had a gun? The list goes on. My point here is that the circumstances are so vague that it encompasses a range of scenarios in which the "right" choice may be different. Asking women to give a blanket answer that covers all possible scenarios, rather than using good judgement, is a dangerous over-generalisation. However, some insight can still be garnered from the scenario and the responses, which I will get to shortly.

Secondly, the question is a logical fallacy. As well as the over-generalisation problem I discussed above, the scenario also requires women to stereotype men. Depending on your perspective, it encourages them to ascribe the qualities of some men to all men, or of men as collective to every individual man. Whichever way you see it, it is going to cause some offence.

So, if the question is ambiguous and logically unsound, what can we learn from it? Well, first, most men seem to have forgotten that there is little point in trying to explain to explain to women that their answer is "wrong". It is an opinion question. There is no wrong answer. However, the fact the majority of women who answered chose the bear is pertinent. In fact, the same over-generalisation which means the scenario encompasses any number of situations where they would be safer with the man, and yet they still choose the bear as the overall safer option, should make this point even more potent. Men need to listen to women's opinions and concerns and ask what we can do as society to rectify the situations that make women feel unsafe, and shift that perception.

However, men are not the only ones with something to learn from this. A lot of women seem to have forgotten that it is possible for men to understand their decision to choose the bear, and still disagree in opinion about the perceptions and logic that lead them there. Shutting men down with personal attacks as soon as they dare to disagree is not going to get women anywhere. If women want men to listen to their concerns, ad hominem attacks are just going to put them on the defensive and make them less likely to listen to any valid point women have to make.

Finally, both men and women seem to forget that men and women experience life differently, think differently, and have differing, but equally valid perspectives. We need different perspectives and opinions in this world, so please listen, learn, and have civil discourse, even when you disagree.