Men resort to war too quickly, it seems to me, so how is that itself not an "overreaction?" Perhaps what men do is we start wars, and then "puss out" and try to negotiate a peace as quickly as possible because either we systematically underestimate how bad the consequences will be until we are facing them or we later realize that the war itself was our overreaction, and extricate ourselves for that reason. Women—who tend to get into wars as a last resort and for the right reasons in the first place—are less likely to feel the need to find some face-saving peace settlement because they appreciate the consequences and/or do not go to war simply for reasons of ego. As Sherman said in his address to the Michigan Military Academy: It's even easier for a politician, safely away from the dangers of war, to underestimate those dangers and to "hope and desire" to bring down upon those who offend him the full weight and power of military action—to put to use the skills of those young men to whom Sherman was speaking. Politicians (male and female) sometimes see soldiers like chess pieces. Little figures that one pushes around the game board looking for a way to win. Perhaps women overreact by not being willing to accept anything less than total and unconditional victory, tempered by the fact they do not get involved in the game unless the need is dire. Perhaps men overreact by being too willing to play the game and sacrifice the "pawns" in pursuit of their more limited victories and objectives. (Then again, how many soldiers lives should be sacrificed in pursuit of a "limited victory?")
Someone who is comparatively good in crises tends to create them, as a strategy. We don't want a crisis-adapted person in charge when there is no crisis.
Men and certainly some women think that the verbal,mental portions of their brains are the best parts to make decisions in complicated situations with a lot of potential effects and avenues of action. The fact is this is often not the case. Just as it is better not to make physical decisions - by whipping out the calculator and fussing over vectors - when playing a sport, many decisions must be made by intuitive and emotional means. One problem with 'logical' decision making has been that these decisions have been made by people disconnected from their feelings. The feelings are, in fact, making them think that this or that decision is the right one, when in fact it simply seems that way because it benefits them. Disconnected overly mental men are a large part of the reason we have so many damn problems and why most decision-making is based on not giving a shit about other people. This latter held up as some kind of proof of intelligence rather than what it really is.
When you are a newbie in a forum, the first thing they say is to LURK. But even when you lurk, it helps if you read through the thread, specially when it is only 25 posts long. The answer to your question has already been presented. But in short, it is a fictional fact, M.C. made it up. That doesn't mean we can not discuss it as if it was true, and it might as well be true...
