The debate between numbers and verstehen is a no brainer, after all you have to understand the numbers.

The thing is to do a check on the problem and find out what sort of evidence or arguments will make a difference to the critcal preference that you need to make between the options.

The same applies to the degree of precision that is required in measurements, and also in the definition of terms.

You are right, of course. The word, woman, is an oppressive patriarchal relic that should have been abandoned a long time ago. And the same with like words like mankind and to be taught manners – why is behaving like a man necessarily the ideal? And the oppressive patriarchal structures in language seem to follow us into the high-tech era too – we should, just to make a point, call all electronic messages with sensitive content fe-mails.

The only exception to this obviously oppressive system prevalent in our postmodern patriarchal society is the word malevolent – I guess it must have slipped through somehow. ;-)

By the way, you forgot to mention heterosexual, married, and middle-aged (well…). At least, that’s the definition of the “oppressing majority” I’ve read about in a bunch of classes (political science): the middle-aged, white, married, heterosexual, high-income earning, patriarchal males.

I never saw many of those around, but I guess since they’re the majority many of them must be hiding somewhere forging plans of how to further oppress [much smaller] minority groups (such as “women”).

OK, fixed it.