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The Essential Difference: Male And Female Brains And The Truth About Autism | 
 enlarge | Author: Simon Baron-cohen
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 57908
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 046500556X
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.33
EAN: 9780465005567
ASIN: 046500556X
Publication Date: August 17, 2004
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Product Description
We all know the opposite sex can be a baffling, even infuriating, species. Why do most men use the phone to exchange information rather than have a chat? Why do women love talking about relationships and feelings with their girlfriends while men seem drawn to computer games, new gadgets, or the latest sports scores? Does it really all just come down to our upbringing? In The Essential Difference, leading psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen confirms what most of us had suspected all along: that male and female brains are different. This groundbreaking and controversial study reveals the scientific evidence (present even in one-day-old babies) that proves that female-type brains are better at empathizing and communicating, while male brains are stronger at understanding and building systems-not just computers and machinery, but abstract systems such as politics and music. Most revolutionary of all, The Essential Difference also puts forward the compelling new theory that autism (and its close relative, Asperger's Syndrome) is actually an example of the extreme male brain. His theory can explain why those who live with this condition are brilliant at analyzing the most complex systems yet cannot relate to the emotional lives of those with whom they live. Understanding our essential difference, Baron-Cohen concludes, may help us not only make sense of our partners' foibles, but also solve one of the most mysterious scientific riddles of our time.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 He's arguing for excellence in both male and female packages October 21, 2008
This Cambridge University autism researcher reveals the numerous biological and functional differences between males and females--which were accepted and valued in earlier generations. Today, we erroneously expect a level of domesticity and independence which undercuts our families and imposes an impossibly homogeneic standard. Baron-Cohen's research across many cultures shows that males default to systems and females default to empathy--note, he never states that women cannot be deans of engineering schools or that men cannot attain the highest level of skills which have historically been the domain of women. This is a very useful book at understanding the "cross-purposes" that often mark relationships between men and women.
 The essential simplicity February 29, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Baron-Cohen has a simple thesis: women are better empathizers and men are better systematizers. Is it true? Maybe. He takes the voluminous literature on sex differences and attempts to cram them into this dichotomy, with some success.
One wonders, however, if this is warranted. Can all of the differences really be attributed to different brain types? What does a brain type really even mean? This aside, his synthesis is powerful, especially the view that autism results from having an extreme male brain. Cohen also dispels notions, too popular in sociological circles, that these differences can be attributed to societal gender-roles, parenting, or culture-in toto.
He reviews studies showing that infants as early as one day old show sex differences in behavior. For example, males will stare longer at a mobile than a human face, whereas for females it is just the opposite. Another study showed that the amount of testosterone in the amniotic fluid of mothers predicted their childs early language skill and the amount of time they made eye-contact with other children. These are only a few of the studies cited to back Cohen's argument. Individually, each is open to criticism; together, using the principle of aggregation, the evidence compiled is insurmountable.
Cohen is extremely fair and undogmatic, which is the sign of a good scientist. The E/S brain hypothesis is provacative, interesting and should provoke further research and thought. If you really want to know the nitty gritty of sex differences though, I would recommend a few of the books that Cohen uses for his synthesis, such as 'Male-Female' by David Geary, 'Sex Differences in Cognition' by Doreen Kimura, and 'The Two Sexes' by Elanor Maccoby. These books provide more detailed information on sex differences and their evolution. After you read these books, read Cohen's book and ask yourself: does the E/S theory make sense of all the detailed differences that are known in the literature, or is it a little bit procrustean in its attempt to slam everything into an either/or dichotomy? The truth is yours to judge.
Just don't forget that we're individuals too July 17, 2007
There was a time not so long ago that autism in a child was blamed on the mother. That we now understand autism, and Asperger Syndrome, to be genetic is an important step in the right direction. That autism and AS do affect males more than females and the characteristics do correspond to what we recognize as male rather than female characteristics suggests that Baron-Cohen's theory needs to be taken seriously.
Most people today seem to be agreeing that there are innate sex differences. These may even be quite small but are exaggerated by the feedback from the environment. Baron-Cohen presents evidence that is being presented in many other books today regarding the differences in the brains and behaviors of the sexes together with evolutionary reasons for these differences. On the one hand the argument is convincing and probably fits with what most of us actually experience. On the other hand there is still so much more that needs to be explained such as why is there such a large overlap between the sexes and why do a significant number of people have a brain that is of the other sex, so to speak? Also, though boys and girls normally learn boy and girl behavior too, ie are modified by the environment, it seems that those with autism and AS are less able to be affected by learning. Or maybe the rest of us are less influenced by the environment than we think?
The tests at the end of the book are interesting to do. Having personally scored very high on systemizing I am relieved to also have scored average for a female on empathizing. As a female with a male-type brain I naturally think it is essential to keep emphasizing individuality in all this. Overall I agree with Baron-Cohen's theory, partly because it fits with my own general experience of people and my own direct, if limited, experience of people with AS.
This book is an interesting addition to the debate on sex differences and has the potential to help in increasing our understanding of the causes of autism and AS. Just keep remembering our individuality too.
 Heavily biased and inconsequent May 23, 2007
3 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is not just another "women are good, men are evil" book. Yes, Mr. Baron-Cohen's anti-male bias is most disturbing, but the major flaw of this book is something else.
You see, Mr. Baron-Cohen is one of those researchers who believe that they have found a simple explanation for a very complex issue. Now, I love simple solutions, but only if they succeed in explaining the reality without contradictions, or with fewer contradictions than previous theories. Unfortunately, more often than not, simple explanations turn out to be Procrustean beds.
So is Mr. Baron-Cohen's theory that lack of empathy is the root of all evil in the world. His attempts to force the reality into that Procrustean bed fail strikingly. Facts that contradict Mr. Baron-Cohen's theory are simply ignored by him. Among them are some facts presented by himself in this very book.
To keep this review short, I'll give you just one example. Possibly the most ridiculous of Mr. Baron-Cohen's far-fetched ideas is his belief that men use violence against other people because they are incapable of realising that the other person feels bad when beaten, raped, killed or such. Not only is this idea mind-blowingly absurd - it doesn't seem to bother Mr. Baron-Cohen that it's in contradiction to some facts about which he writes just a couple of pages earlier.
I hope this gives you an idea what this book's like. It won't give you any new insight into gender differences. You are much more likely to get a distorted picture of reality. The book does contain bits of truthful information, but they are mostly common knowledge or can be found in numerous other, much better books.
Hyper-male & hyper-female, then the rest of us December 25, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
By now everybody knows sex is in the brain. But how much of how the brain was laid out by our genes and experiences determines if we have enough of a male type brain to cause us to show the pathologic symptoms of autism?
Baron-Cohen thinks the evidence shows that the spectrum to the extreme male type of brain is to be found more in autistic people than would be found by chance.
You may enjoy reading this well written book by an authority in the field and may form your own opinion of where you are on the continuum.
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