The variability hypothesis originated in the early nineteenth century with Johann Meckel, who argued that males have a greater range of ability than females, especially in intelligence. In other words, he believed that most geniuses and most mentally retarded people are men. Because he considered males to be the "superior animal," Meckel concluded that females' lack of variation was a sign of inferiority.
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Famous quotes containing the words variability and/or hypothesis:
“The grand points in human nature are the same to-day they were a thousand years ago. The only variability in them is in expression, not in feature.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“The wheels and springs of man are all set to the hypothesis of the permanence of nature. We are not built like a ship to be tossed, but like a house to stand.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)