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Biotech Science

Estrogen Linked to Research and Programming Skills 83

Neil Halelamien writes "Psychologists at the University of Bath have found that male researchers and programmers tend to have higher levels of estrogen, a hormone which promotes development of the right side of the brain (responsible for spatial and analytical skills). Increased estrogen was also linked to having longer index fingers and a decreased likelihood of having children. Men teaching mathematics and physics tended to have unusually long index fingers, while women in the social sciences tended to have more testosterone. The psychologists also found that male and female students with a smaller difference between their index and ring finger lengths tended to do better on their Java programming exams. The research leaves open the question of why women (who typically have more estrogen than men) aren't more prevalent in the science and technology fields."
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Estrogen Linked to Research and Programming Skills

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  • Oh, great. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Friday October 22, 2004 @04:48AM (#10596159)


    Does this mean we'll start getting spam for products to lengthen your index finger?

  • and a.... (Score:2, Funny)

    by A beautiful mind ( 821714 ) on Friday October 22, 2004 @04:49AM (#10596165)
    ..."and a decreased likelihood of having children."

    This explains a lot about geeks ;) Chicken or egg problem?
  • by tod_miller ( 792541 ) on Friday October 22, 2004 @05:10AM (#10596220) Journal
    Psychologists at the University of Bath have found that male researchers and programmers tend to have higher levels of estrogen, a hormone which promotes development of the right side of the brain

    I guess this is why geek types are less macho. Of course, I am a typical muscle bound macho type, and will spend my nights trying to hack anyone who said otherwise, the only way I get my estrogen s through osmosis via genital contact like any other red blooded male.

    o.O

    I can imagine spam for testosterone to develop you left side of your brain.

    The right side of the brain is commonly reffered to as the arty farty part of the brain, it is thepart that helps you recognise yourself in photos, which is why women take 1hr to get ready, but answer me this, why do geeks take less time to get ready than our estrogen deficient jock counterparts?

    Stereotypes aside, dyslexia is formed form dual activity in right and left sides of the brain, intellectual types often have dyslexia and geeks too, whihc may be because of hormonal issues and right/left conflicts.

    Or looking at too much p0rn. One or the other.
  • Pr()n (Score:5, Funny)

    by cL0h ( 624108 ) on Friday October 22, 2004 @05:19AM (#10596241)
    Males with higher levels of estrogen (what a difficult word to spell) would have lower sex drives andbe less distracted by all the lovely filthy pictures just a couple of clicks away......

    "I could finish this programming task or I could...... oh WOW, is that really possible"
  • by vasqzr ( 619165 ) <vasqzr@netscape. n e t> on Friday October 22, 2004 @07:29AM (#10596658)

    Gee, imagine finger length being correlated to programming skills.

    It's not the size that matters, it's how you use it.
  • by dtfinch ( 661405 ) * on Friday October 22, 2004 @09:26AM (#10597276) Journal
    Programmers are more sensitive, balanced, horny, wealthy, and desperate than your average person. Just ignore the fact that some of our voices sound totally gay.
  • by Slowping ( 63788 ) on Friday October 22, 2004 @10:22AM (#10597748) Homepage Journal
    I find that programmers relate TOO well with women. We end up being their friends.
  • by linzeal ( 197905 ) on Friday October 22, 2004 @11:05AM (#10598192) Journal
    I have a very feminine voice at times when I do not pay attention to myself. I also have a scratchy bar room voice I made up so that I can sound like a deginerate instead of a fruit.
  • Finnaly... (Score:4, Funny)

    by egarland ( 120202 ) on Friday October 22, 2004 @11:45AM (#10598642)
    ...proof that stupid people have a reproductive advantage over smart people.

    That explains a lot of things. :)

Almost anything derogatory you could say about today's software design would be accurate. -- K.E. Iverson

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