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# Women are superior even when they aren’t
- URL: https://www.dashhouse.com/2003729women-are-superior-even-when-they-arent-html/
- Published: 2003-07-29T00:00:35.000Z
- Updated: 2022-08-15T15:43:45.000Z
- Author: Darryl Dash
- Tags: Blog, Uncategorized, #DashHouseCom, #wp

A [PC Magazine](http://www.pcmag.com/?ref=dashhouse.com) news item (not yet online) gives men the edge in one area of computing:

> Are men better at navigating computer screens than women? Scientists at [Microsoft Research](http://research.microsoft.com/?ref=dashhouse.com) say yes, but they may have found a way to level the playing field. According to the company’s [Visualization and Interaction for Business and Entertainment (VIBE) team](http://research.microsoft.com/vibe/?ref=dashhouse.com), women find it much harder than men to complete tasks in a 3-D virtual environment on a typical computer display.

I’m prepared to ignore the acronym and the fact that this study is done by Microsoft, because I like the results. Men *are* better than women at something. But then the article just had to go on:

> But on a 36-inch display, gender differences vanish. This is due to a phenomenon known as optical flow. “*Optical flow* refers to the changes in light patterns that are constantly occurring in our field of vision,” says Keven Schofield, a Microsoft Research director. “Women are more sensitive to the inconsistencies in optical flow between a screen and the real world behind it.” Widening the screen corrects the inconsistencies. Microsoft hopes to build optical-flow cues into future interfaces.

Another study that confirms the obvious: women are superior even when they aren’t. Even their weaknesses end up being examples of strengths that men don’t have. I still say we’re better at remote controls, though.