Attractive Women Make Men Temporarily Stupid 652
Ponca City, We love you writes "The Telegraph reports that men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an attractive woman perform less well in tests designed to measure brain function than those who chat to someone they do not find attractive. This leads to speculation that men use up so much of their brain function or 'cognitive resources' trying to impress beautiful women, they have little left for other tasks. Psychologists at Radboud University in The Netherlands carried out the study after one of them was so struck on impressing an attractive woman he had never met before, that he could not remember his address when she asked him where he lived. Researchers recruited 40 male heterosexual students and had each one perform a standard memory test. The volunteers then spent seven minutes chatting to male or female members of the research team before repeating the test. The results showed that men were slower and less accurate after trying to impress the women. The more they fancied them, the worse their score."
Temporarily? (Score:3, Insightful)
Trying to impress? (Score:5, Insightful)
From TFSummary:
How about the even more simple explanation of just being distracted by the beautiful woman and imagining her naked with her legs wrapped around you is taking up all of your resources? "Trying to impress" doesn't need to come into it at all (and likely doesn't because usually having your mind so completely occupied that you become a dumbass doesn't really impress people), and seems like a stretch of a conclusion to come up with. Far more likely that thought of sex have simply completely taken over the brain and body, as they so often do..
Like the old joke says, men have a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to operate one at a time. ;)
Scientifically meaningless? (Score:3, Insightful)
Researchers recruited 40 male heterosexual students and had each one perform a standard memory test.
I have to wonder why the researchers didn't expand this theory to include homosexuals, bisexuals, or asexuals -- before publishing results claiming every man out there can be rendered temporarily stupid by an attractive woman. I smell a rat -- had they done this and the results turned out differently, they'd have to explain why this effect only happens to heterosexual men, or they'd have evidence of a neurological basis for attraction that isn't tied to gender. Neither conclusion would make them popular with the people funding the study. I don't know what this is, but it isn't science -- at least not the kind I grew up with.
Gender segregation in school. (Score:5, Insightful)
Now there is a concrete argument for gender segregation of boys and girls in school.... I wonder how women react around rich men?
The singular of data (Score:5, Insightful)
I could have told you that.
It's embarrassing is what it is, to be turned into a drooling moron and then realise later just how stupid you sounded.
Anecdote is not, nor ever will be, the singular of "data". Sure, everyone may know this. Sure, the outcome may seem obvious to everyone. However, it is not empirical fact until it is studied and established as such. How many common sense "truths" have turned out to be not so true when properly analyzed over the history of human scientific endeavor? In the case of this study, anecdote and assumption about human behavior has now become data, and can be used as such in psychology and sociology to continue to study and describe how and why we are the way we are.
Now that we have established the phenomenon (doot dooo do-do-doot) as data, perhaps we can look into the actual physiological mechanisms which control it.
I would think that above all else, the type of people who read a "news for nerds" site would appreciate research for research sake. :-/
Re:Scientifically meaningless? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's perfectly valid if they don't claim it generalizes past the confines of the experiment. Of course the /. headline is then inaccurate, but it's not like that doesn't happen anyway. The problem is that there are thousands of variables that can affect an experiment, and you can't test them all in one go. What about testosterone level? Time since last having sex? Relationship status? Heterosexuals account for roughly 90% of the population, which makes them a reasonable group of test subjects for an experiment.
That said, I'd be extremely interested to see a similar study that takes sexual preference into account. Even more interesting would be to study transsexuals whose mind and body disagree on sex; as you might find that straight FTMs exhibit the same behavior as the heterosexual males, despite having female bodies themselves.
Playing devils advocate (here agreeing with you I guess), don't forget that not everyone can be cleanly lumped into those four bins of preference, you insensitive clod!;)
Re:Again - people were paid to study this? (Score:5, Insightful)
I used to get tongue-tied thinking I was unworthy of this gorgeous woman & becoming nervous & basically being an idiot. But now with advancing age I realize Beauty is only transitory. Today's "hottie" will probably be a "fatty" by the time she's 30 or 40 (see Pierce Brosnan's wife as an excellent example).*
In other words, they all get ugly eventually, just like me. So that gives me confidence.
*
* http://www.beforeandaftermarriage.com/celebrity/fat-keely-shaye-smith [beforeanda...rriage.com]
Abusive behavior caused confusion. (Score:5, Insightful)
Another story: Men were given a huge meal of food they love. After eating, they did less well on tests.
Even more: Men were subjected to adversarial behavior from women who were being seductive, but had no interest in the men. The men responded with confusion, and later did less well on tests.
Re:Attractive women? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:There got to be an App for that... (Score:3, Insightful)
Why the average Slashdotter is so smart (Score:5, Insightful)
This explains why the average Slashdotter is so smart. They found the best solution to this problem: stay away from women, however beautiful they may be, altogether!
The next time someone gives you crap for living in voluntary solitary confinement in your mom's basement, at least you'll know you're making the smart choice.
Re:Again - people were paid to study this? (Score:4, Insightful)
Too bad I don't have any mod points. For a totally off comment and asshole statement like yours, a negative moderation is most definitely called for.
stupid*er* (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe beautiful women just make the stupid psychological tests seem less important by comparison.
Re:Gender segregation in school. (Score:1, Insightful)
I was the biggest nerd in school. Didn't even go to my prom. After graduating college and becoming moderately succcessful (i.e., pulling down around $250K/year currently) I am still a nerd. Attractive young women still think they can "do better". I still get laughed at in clubs by the twenty-somethings. But I tend to attract a lot of 30 and older women now, and they do indeed get pretty tongue-tied. I still don't know how I feel about that, but hey, I'm not complaining.
I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men (Score:5, Insightful)
Works on Women Too! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The singular of data (Score:3, Insightful)
Just wait a few (dozen?) year (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The singular of data (Score:5, Insightful)
Evolution, my friend. If a reproductively desirable female doesn't arouse you, your
genes have come to the end of their otherwise long and successful run.
I think you misunderstand what I meant by "physiological mechanisms". Just saying "evolution, my friend" does not explain anything about what is happening in the brain and body at the cellular and molecular level. Yes, we know that females arouse us. This study suggests data that brain processing for other things is inhibited. Now, what I am curious about at least, it would be interesting to know how and where (in the brain) and by what physiological mechanisms the processing is being shunted.
There is more to understanding biology than just saying, "Oh that's naturally evolved behavior." Some of us want to know exactly what has evolved and been selected for at the cellular and subcellular level.
Re:How would you function talking to one of these? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's just you. The thing to consider is that just about every one of those women has an ex-husband.
Besides, I like dogs and poodles have more personality than the average celebrity, you insensitive clod!
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
So obvious it MUST be true :-/ (Score:5, Insightful)
Durrr... sorry to double comment on the same post, but I wanted to address this.
Some things count as so obvious as to not require scientific inquiry. Hot women give get males wood. You don't need
to publish this to claim it, end of story.
Yes, and for centuries it was so obvious that no scientific scrutiny was required that the sun went around the earth, not the other way around. It was also completely obvious that a heavier object would fall faster than a lighter object. It was also obvious that things would get cold because the cold of the surroundings would flow into them. It was also so obvious that time passes at a constant rate, regardless of our perceptions and reference frames. It was also so obvious that humans are the only organisms to experience emotion and pain.
Obviously there are a great many things that are so obvious as to not require scientific inquiry.
Point being, a great many things are so obvious. A great many of those obvious things also turn out to be correct in light of empirical data. However, we are not allowed to treat those scientifically and draw scientific conclusions from them until they are established as empirical data. This is one of the fundamental requirements for science, and I would think people on a "news for nerds" site would get that. Taking the obvious for granted as true is exactly the kind of mentality that brings about pseudoscience. Science requires empiricism, even for the bleedingly obvious.
Re:But it goes both ways (Score:3, Insightful)
Any male, twenty or over and somewhat attractive, who has ever had to spend time around high school girls can tell you that they get just as stupid around guys they think are hot.
uh... thing is, with girls, it's often an act. Women are much better at deception than men, and they're smart enough to know that stupidity is a turn on for guys... so their feigned stupidity fuels our stupidity, which lets them know it's working, and they can be even bolder in their feigned stupidity... it's a vicious feedback loop when it works right.
We'd be wise to consider the words of the great philosopher Steven Wright, who said, "I never really believe what women tell me."
Re:Again - people were paid to study this? (Score:4, Insightful)
This viewpoint is shortsighted to the max. Yes, many women who "had it" in their younger years fail to uphold their appearance and lose that edge. So do men; in fact, they usually lose it faster. (Yeah...ever notice those 20-something guys that bulk up for the chicks? Those guys are usually fat and balding in their 30s.)
On the other hand, I've seen some people in their 30s or approaching 40s that look frozen at 25. Most of those folks are very attractive, but the dfference between them and their peers is that they knew that their bodies were something that needs maintenance to keep looking and working good.
And maintenance doesn't mean a small pizza pie at 8pm, followed by beer and TV. (That seems to be commonplace in my "college" town...which is really an extension of NYC.)
Re:Gender segregation in school. (Score:3, Insightful)
Now there is a concrete argument for gender segregation of boys and girls in school
No there isn't. You might as well say "Now there is a concrete argument for burkas in public"
Re:Temporarily? (Score:3, Insightful)
Hmmm, you bring up an interesting point and it would be great if you could elaborate on it.
I disagree with you, you can see my point of view here: Simple relationship mathematics [railean.net].
What are the alternatives then? Enter an eternal state of depression and never recover? Turn into an outcast and never interact with women again? What if your spouse dies - will you be alone for the rest of your life to prove that it was true love?
I don't think that the "degree of recoverability" is a good metric for the "quality of love".
Re:Again - people were paid to study this? (Score:2, Insightful)
Myself excluded, of course.
Re:Trying to impress? (Score:2, Insightful)
I concur! Women know full well what cleavage, tight pants, short skirts, etc. does to men. The whole argument of dressing up for themselves to "feel pretty" that I hear over and over is kind of moot. Not that it's not all good to fix yourself up to feel good about yourself, but the satisfaction of being content with what the mirror shows pales in comparison to having people notice or even complement ones looks. Now think about the amount of attention a hot woman gets when she wears clothing that is, undeniably, designed to arouse men and invoke thoughts of what said man and said woman could be doing (tear off that barely concealing top, flip up the miniskirt and.. well, you get the idea).
Getting slapped because you check out a womans cleavage is bullshit. It's like a guy buying an awesome sports car and slapping a woman for showing interest in the car! If he didn't want to get attention for the car, he could damn well drive something less attention-grabbing!
I think the old Balls Out Pants [ebaumsworld.com] sketch from MadTV pretty much explains my point.
Re:Dual core (Score:1, Insightful)
At a certain level of nerdiness, even attractive women fail to garner my interest. If I'm engrossed in a math problem, there's basically nothing that will distract me. I've received a lot of flack from my male friends over the years for this. I completely zone out and focus on the problem at hand. I am most definitely not a dual-core processor! Single core FTW.
Re:Trying to impress? (Score:5, Insightful)
You're both missing the point. Of course they dress that way to attract attention, it's just that the attention they want isn't from YOU. If you watch the whole girl-drama thing in it's entirely you'd see something like this:
awkwardNerd: Hi really-hot-chick, how are you today?
really-hot-chick: Oh my GOD! Are you looking at my chest? You pervert! My eyes are up here!
awkwardNerd: I...um, no, I....gah. (awkwardNerd retreats against the onslaught of really-hot-chick's righteous fury)
22 seconds later:
muscle-guy-fratboy: Hey really-hot-chick, look at you! Niiiiiiiiiice!
really-hot-chick: awwe, muscle-guy-fratboy, you big jerk (said with a smile and a forward-lean exposing even more cleavage)
They want to be noticed, they're just not always happy with who notices them.....
No you don't see it all the time. (Score:1, Insightful)
"I know a lot of women who dumb themselves down..."
You suspect that it might happen. You have heard that women do it. But you don't witness it on a regular basis. It is an urban myth spread by intelligent women to make you believe that they (or their gender) are more intelligent than they appear to be. Some desperate men go along with it because they believe that it will curry favour with those few women who might consider them as a mate.
Don't be a mug.
Re:Easier explanation (Score:4, Insightful)
Are you joking? You don't find that process incredible? What's a good piece of music? Just waves transmitted through the air? What's the DNA? Just arrangements of atoms? The Princess Bride? Just a sequence of words? Or perhaps I should ask you whether a wood is just a bunch of trees. You seriously need to re-consider what the word "just" means.
I'd ask you what your criteria for judging something's value is as "natural drugs to make you feel like it's way more than it is" implies how you feel about something is not a valid method of assessing how important something is to you. Except that the natural alternative criteria is intellectual analysis and I don't think you've intellectually considered the perpetuation of the species via the incredibly complex yet elegant combination and multiplication of the DNA of separate organisms into new growing and developing organisms if you dismiss it as 'nothing very special'.
And incidentally, you're not talking about "love". Your example actually defines "lust".
You should think more about what you're describing. The whole process ROCKS!
Regards,
H.
Re:But it goes both ways (Score:3, Insightful)
The researchers forgot one simple fact: Women always do the choosing. Which is why men say thy got lucky. They got lucky since they were picked.