[TriLUG] The biggest deterrent for women in tech

[John Vaughters]

>It's not that simple.  The Chinese also have a better linguistic mapping to
>numbers than we do.  IIRC I think their word for "twenty" translates to
>"two tens."  They don't do teens.

>It may have to do with rice vs. wheat cultivation. 
 
In both these examples you reference cultural differences. You may be able to argue that over thousands of years the Genetic Predisposition may have shifted in favor of math skills via natural selection, but I think it is a stretch. In any case this brings us to the age old arguement Genetics or Environment?
 
My personal opinion is that no matter what your cultural background is, if you work real hard at improving, you will enhance your ability to it's greatest extent, and if you average abilities of all the cultures based on the amount of study time, that it would be reasonably similar throughout the cultures. Obviously I am only suggesting, and I do not have any data. I am just basing it on my experience that results come from trying, even when the person has a false notion that it is beyond their abilities. Just breaking that false belief is the hardest part. My experience comes from training people on technical subjects throughout my career.