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Attractive Women Make Men Temporarily Stupid

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."

652 comments

  1. Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The blood rushes from one head to the other head.

    1. Re:Easier explanation by Kagura · · Score: 4, Funny

      Your helmet is so big...

    2. Re:Easier explanation by Kagura · · Score: 4, Funny

      Druish princesses are often attracted to money, and power... and I have both and you know it.

    3. Re:Easier explanation by WaywardGeek · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, yes, the blood moves. It's also often about a massive chemical reaction in your brain. I have a semi-rare condition where pheromones are very obvious to me. Some girls actually can make my head hurt, though I haven't had such reactions since I turned about 40.

      Being able to sense the drug incoming, I was able to examine my reaction over the years. My heart raced, my chest tightened, and I longed for whichever girl I saw next. Often, I'd get hit with it from behind, before I saw any girl. I would be incapable of thinking of anything else but the girl who brought this to me. It takes a while for that to wash out of your system. A few hours later, I'd often think, "What the hell was I so enraptured about? She's nothing special."

      --
      Celebrate failure, and then learn from it - Nolan Bushnell
    4. Re:Easier explanation by pete-classic · · Score: 5, Funny

      As Robin Williams put it, "See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time."

      -Peter

    5. Re:Easier explanation by Narpak · · Score: 5, Funny

      This study seems like a barely concealed reason to bring attractive women into the lab. In fact I would wager that this is the first time the line "Want to come to my lab for some 'test'?" has actually worked.

    6. Re:Easier explanation by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Funny

      I have a semi-rare condition where pheromones are very obvious to me.

      I have a semi-rare medical condition that makes my head hurt when I smell bullsh*t.

    7. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      though I haven't had such reactions since I turned about 40.

      I hear you brother. Do you miss it as much as I do :-)

    8. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      My head hurts.

    9. Re:Easier explanation by dbet · · Score: 1

      I sure hope not. Immediately getting a hard-on in the company of a woman could be a source of perpetual embarrassment.

      Then again, it certainly sends the correct message.

    10. Re:Easier explanation by Culture20 · · Score: 2, Funny

      -Peter

      Heh. Heh heh. He said "peter". Uh huhuhuhuh.

    11. Re:Easier explanation by masshuu · · Score: 0

      no its better explained with an EKG.
      The EKG of head 1 flatlines, but head 2 goes north fast

      --
      O.o
    12. Re:Easier explanation by shnermal · · Score: 0, Redundant

      ohhh your helmet is sooo big

    13. Re:Easier explanation by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't become a farmer.

    14. Re:Easier explanation by uberjack · · Score: 4, Informative

      I think Peggy Bundy said it best: "...nature played a cruel joke on the men. It gave them a source of pleasure, but in order for it to work, blood has to leave the brain. And it leaves them confused, and disoriented, and eager to enter into negotiations."

    15. Re:Easier explanation by jcr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This study seems like a barely concealed reason to bring attractive women into the lab

      Taking them along to meet with the grant committee would probably explain the funding.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    16. Re:Easier explanation by mrbcs · · Score: 1
      I thought the joke was:
      God says to Adam, "I have good news and bad news"
      Adam says, "What's the good news?"
      God says, "You get a brain and a penis."
      "What's the bad news?"
      "You only get enough blood to use one at a time!"

      Thank-you, I'll be here all week... tip your waitress..

      --
      I'm not anti-social, I'm anti-idiot.
    17. Re:Easier explanation by pete-classic · · Score: 3, Funny

      And yet the word "penis" slid right by you.

      Penis. Slid. Tee-he!

      -Peter

    18. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Being able to sense the drug incoming, I was able to examine my reaction over the years.

      THOMAS (The Human Oxytocin-Mediated Attachment System) How to run a con

      Schneir on Oxytocin

      Oxytocin.

      Now, you know that whole "chemistry" thing, where some people strike you as attractive and some just... don't? That's in part determined by the differences between your immune systems.

      That works because if the genes that code for your major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are similar to the other person's, you'll tend to find them less attractive than otherwise, and vice-versa. Why mate with someone who's immune to the same stuff you are? Your offspring won't have any survival advantage. Instead, evolution has selected for creatures that mate with partners whose immune systems are incompatible. Either because both parents tend to be unlikely to be sick at the same time, ensuring the presence of at least one caregiver. Or because some the offspring of such pairings get a mix of genes that features the the best bits of both parents. (Offspring that get the worst of both parents tend not to survive, but that's a problem for individuals, not the species.)

      Love is just a chemical reaction in your brain, anyway. It's not magical, or sacred, or even very special. It's your brain recognizing the opportunity to mate with someone who matches your particular template for an ideal partner (usually based on early experiences, parents, and other external factors), and shooting you up with natural drugs to make you feel like it's way more than it really is.

    19. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some girls actually can make my head hurt

      Well d'uh. Any girl can make a man's head hurt.

    20. Re:Easier explanation by Yoozer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Some girls actually can make my head hurt

      They're called spouses.

    21. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah but you're a Sony fan boy, odds are you listen to their bullshit every year and still haven't detected it.

    22. Re:Easier explanation by cyn1c77 · · Score: 1

      Love is just a chemical reaction in your brain, anyway. It's not magical, or sacred, or even very special. It's your brain [...] shooting you up with natural drugs to make you feel like it's way more than it really is.

      Spoken like a true slashdotter!

      Although maybe a little too objectively? If you don't think that love is magical, or sacred, special, I am curious to know what you think is special in life?

      Would you argue that other animals that mate for life (such as pigeons) also experience love?

      That aside, I am afraid that your explanation only explains part of "love," otherwise people wouldn't still be in love after raising children or not being able to have children.

    23. Re:Easier explanation by madsenj37 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Funny, she doesn't look Druish.

      --
      Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
    24. Re:Easier explanation by houghi · · Score: 1

      It might be that Robbin Williams put it that way, the saying is a bit older then Robin Williams.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    25. Re:Easier explanation by MistrX · · Score: 1

      "genes that features the the best bits of both parents."

      You've never seen my niece.

    26. Re:Easier explanation by DarkProphet · · Score: 1

      Too objectively? No man, this is Slashdot. Consider the audience :-)

      I think your parent poster was insinuating that the emotion of love is due largely to a chemical response in the body. If thats the case, would it not be reasonable to expect that other species may exhibit that trait? I'd hypothesize that any species that mate for life probably have very similar distinct chemical response towards their mate. I'm actually curious if there has been any study into this. The results would be interesting either way.

      That aside, I am afraid that your explanation only explains part of "love," otherwise people wouldn't still be in love after raising children or not being able to have children.

      Not necessarily. If "love" is an evolved survival trait, why would it even turn off? Why can octogenarians still father children? Why does a sterile person still desire sex? Probably because a strong family produces more successful offspring. </talkingoutmyass>

      --
      What could possibly hurt the security of the American people more than giving our own government the ability to hide its
    27. Re:Easier explanation by carolfromoz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Also interestingly - a woman on the pill has less chance of making the correct chemical compatability choice. The pill mimics pregnancy and during pregnancy a woman is more attracted to genetically similar people (ie family members who will look after her). I've read the fact that so many couples meet while she's on the pill cited as a possible factor in the rise of infertility.

    28. Re:Easier explanation by pedestrian+crossing · · Score: 2, Funny

      Adam: God, this garden is nice and all, but I'm lonely and vaguely...unsatisfied. Plus I have to do all of the cooking and cleaning.

      God: Well, I can provide a companion, who will satisfy your all of your needs whenever you ask. She will cook, clean, satisfy you, do anything you want whenever you want.

      Adam: Sounds great! But what will it cost me?

      God: One arm and one leg.

      Adam: Hmmm, that's pretty expensive. What can I get for, say, one rib?

      --
      A house divided against itself cannot stand.
    29. Re:Easier explanation by Albert+Sandberg · · Score: 1

      well, it's not like a rover got stuck in a ditch on mars...

    30. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So that explains why pxrn is so popular on the internet.
      All we see is potential mates with a good working immune system.
      So apparently this relates to boob size, and mouth shapes.

    31. Re:Easier explanation by StackedCrooked · · Score: 1

      They're dutchmen after all.

    32. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well, chemistry sure factor in love, I'm personally felling it as I see my girlfriend only on weekend as I'm currently working on another city. The feeling whizzes down during the week.

      the strange stuff is that I can somewhat reinforce it the more I think about previous encounters, and it last shortly afterwards.

    33. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      God to Adam and Eve: "which one wants to pee standing?"
      Adam shouts "me, me!", so God replies, "ok, so you Eve will only got multiple orgasm"

    34. Re:Easier explanation by damaki · · Score: 1

      Dude, you made my day.

      --
      Stupidity is the root of all evil.
    35. Re:Easier explanation by laejoh · · Score: 1

      Yeah, a man has a penis, a brain and a heart. The heart pumps blood to the penis or the heart. It never pumps blood to both at the same time!

    36. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting. So this means I can meet a girl IRL and become crazy about her just by being in her presence, but just seeing this girls photo will have 0 effect? And what about those moments you see a girls photo and you do feel strongly attracted to her?

    37. Re:Easier explanation by ukyoCE · · Score: 1

      I didn't RTFA, but right there in the summary it states that the subjects talked to members of the research team.

      The volunteers then spent seven minutes chatting to male or female members of the research team before repeating the test.

      So they already had attractive women in the lab, then brought in 40 men.

      Draw your own conclusions.

    38. Re:Easier explanation by mcgrew · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, they're called Ex Wives.

    39. Re:Easier explanation by Tanktalus · · Score: 2, Funny

      Am I the only one that read that last word as if it changed the "nd" to "ck"? And then mentally responded, "of course it does" ?

    40. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why does anything have to be special? Objective appraisal does not make love any less pleasant.

    41. Re:Easier explanation by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      So that explains why pxrn is so popular on the internet.

      This *is* the internet. You can write "porn". I give you permission.

    42. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ^ Read in a medical journal on many a saturday night...

    43. Re:Easier explanation by rehtonAesoohC · · Score: 1

      "Want to come to my lab for some 'test'?"

      That sounds like the opening line to a dreadful geek porn.

      Bow chicka wow^2

    44. Re:Easier explanation by oracleofbargth · · Score: 2, Informative

      All humans have a veromonasal organ. (Pheromone sensor in the nose.) A very, very small percentage of humans have active nerve connections to the veromonasal organ, while most do not. (Probably a recessive trait.) Though there have been some studies which suggest that the veromonasal organ sets off chemical signals to the brain, even in those individuals with no direct nerve connection to it.

    45. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ha ha ha..... Peter...

    46. Re:Easier explanation by h4rm0ny · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Love is just a chemical reaction in your brain, anyway. It's not magical, or sacred, or even very special.

      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.

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    47. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or an attractive reason to bring barely-concealed women into the lab.

    48. Re:Easier explanation by dwye · · Score: 1

      > Love is just a chemical reaction in your brain, anyway. It's not magical, or sacred, or even very special.

      The same can be said about the process of thinking. It is "just" neurotransmitters being emitted and absorbed. Nothing special, there.

      Sufficient reductionism can make anything seem "meaningless" since, after all, on the scale of the entire Universe viewed over tens of billions of years, nothing looks important. Therefore, from my level, your reductionism is a waste of noise.

      Your explanation also ignores the purely visual components; I rather doubt that viewing "high quality" porn leaves the average viewer any smarter, either. For that matter, do Romance novels make the readers any smarter? Where is the histocompatibility complex of Lord Fabio-On-The-Cover (or whoever the latest hot cover model is) detected?

    49. Re:Easier explanation by SleazyRidr · · Score: 1

      Yes, yes you are.

    50. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yet another study to prove the obvious.

    51. Re:Easier explanation by hodet · · Score: 1

      you should have an E in front of your nickname

    52. Re:Easier explanation by youn · · Score: 1

      I believe penises tend to do that,especially with lubrification ;)

      --
      Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that :p
    53. Re:Easier explanation by celle · · Score: 1

      So your saying, opposites attract.

    54. Re:Easier explanation by geekoid · · Score: 1

      ". I have a semi-rare condition where pheromones are very obvious to me. "

      HAHAHAHAHa....

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    55. Re:Easier explanation by geekoid · · Score: 1

      First one, then the other.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    56. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet she gives great helmet

      - peas

    57. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >> Either because both parents tend to be unlikely to be sick at the same time, ensuring the presence of at least one caregiver

      I don't buy this particular point. Males are typically *never* the caregivers of their offspring in the natural world, even if the mother is sick. Most species don't even see the parents co-habitate.

    58. Re:Easier explanation by Elbowgeek · · Score: 1

      Or to put it another way, the head empties as the penis fills up....

      --
      Who is this delectable creature with an insatiable love of the dead?
    59. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some girls actually can make my head hurt

      They're called spouses.

      So sadly true.

    60. Re:Easier explanation by zmsunrise · · Score: 1

      Precisely why I sometimes pass out from the blood loss after an erection.

    61. Re:Easier explanation by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 1

      But it's the wife that gets the headache.

    62. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That explains my eight years in college.

    63. Re:Easier explanation by KingBenny · · Score: 0

      i didnt know this still needed explaining lol

      --
      Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
    64. Re:Easier explanation by BioSlayer · · Score: 1

      isn't it the women who are supposed to react back to the pheromones and that is why you got them in some deodorants? pheromones can't be obvious unless you're a female dude! but an erection can !!

    65. Re:Easier explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Love is just a chemical reaction in your brain, anyway. It's not magical, or sacred, or even very special."

      That's a fallacy. Because it's a chemical reaction means it's not special? Whether it's sacred or not is subjective.

      Nice try Mr. Naysayer.

    66. Re:Easier explanation by mikegre · · Score: 1

      They don't call it a schmuck for nothing.

    67. Re:Easier explanation by 'The+'.$L3mm1ng · · Score: 1

      Care to share the name of that condition?

    68. Re:Easier explanation by WaywardGeek · · Score: 1

      I've not found it on the web, but I know one other person who also can "smell" pheromones, so there must be very many of us. Smell may be the wrong word, since it feels more like pressure somewhere in my sinuses. I'm surprised other slashdoters didn't chime in and describe similar experience. I also can't stand most perfume, and much of it makes me want to leave the room. Something like 10% of us have that condition, but I'm having trouble finding the name for that as well.

      Anyway, my friend and I who can detect human pheromones think it's pretty funny when guys like you doubt it. I can even tell the difference between pheromones. I'm a white guy, but I've dated girls of every race. Girls are all different, but there was a Black girl and an Arabic girl I dated for a short time that didn't have very compatible pheromones. The "chemistry" wasn't right. Then there was a girl who's "chemistry" was a perfect match, but we didn't actually like each other very much. We'd have sex whenever we saw each other, but nothing else in the relationship worked.

      There's also some funny stories. You know that "baby smell" babies have? Well, it turns out pregnant women have a pregnant smell. Once, when out to lunch with about 10 co-workers, I asked a girl from our office how her pregnancy was going. She angrily said, "I'm not pregnant!" That was super embarrassing. However, she was, but didn't know it yet!

      Anyway, you're welcome to keep believing conditions you never had don't exist, like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I also have a rare (and unnamed) form of color-blindness, and it's pretty funny when I run across people who don't believe it. You'd be surprised how many people don't believe color-blindness is real. I guess that's just human nature. Both of my children have tried to "cure" me by teaching me the difference between blue and purple.

      --
      Celebrate failure, and then learn from it - Nolan Bushnell
  2. Again - people were paid to study this? by Nursie · · Score: 1

    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.

    1. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 1

      If that is all that happens, you get off lucky. I don't know if this is common or not (It isn't really idle chat material), but my "soldier" has been known to salute in a very obvious way. It made high school very awkward.

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    2. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, 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

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    3. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by R2.0 · · Score: 1

      You were lucky. Most of us got the random hardons in class. To misquote Eddie Murphy:

      "Mr. R2.0, can you go to the blackboard and solve the problem?"

      "No, I don't think so. I'll take the zero"

      --
      "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
    4. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 0, Troll

      I wish! I'm more than twice that! I posted anonymously on slashdot for years until it started getting retarded, so I "had" to create an account, so I could persist the options to make it suck less.

      Now get off my concrete porch!

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    5. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by timmarhy · · Score: 1

      actually there is evidence being slightly overweight is ok - after all our bodies are designed to try store extra energy when it can. obviously obese people were never part of that plan. what is more dangerous is poor diet with little fibre or real nutrients and high sugar and fats.

      --
      If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    6. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by jcochran · · Score: 3, 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.

    7. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are options to make /. suck less? I may have to start signing in again...

    8. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by couchslug · · Score: 1

      "Today's "hottie" will probably be a "fatty" by the time she's 30 or 40"

      As the saying goes, "men get distinguished, women get disgusting". (ducks)

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    9. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by commodore64_love · · Score: 0

      >>>evidence being slightly overweight is ok

      Please show me evidence of this. I have my doubts health organizations would be saying BMI>25 (or even 23 in Japan) is bad if it were not true.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    10. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by CarpetShark · · Score: 2, Funny

      I could have told you that.

      Indeed. Women put unreasonable demands on men. News at 11.

    11. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by corbettw · · Score: 1

      The man who approved the funds for the study must have been in the company of an attractive woman.

      --
      God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
    12. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Tolkien · · Score: 1

      She's not fat, she looks fine. I'd do 'er.

    13. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1

      You could just say "built for comfort, not for speed".

    14. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by MrCrassic · · Score: 3, 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.)

    15. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by MrCrassic · · Score: 1

      Have fun. There's plenty of evidence suggesting that being slightly overweight is actually a really good thing, especailly for women who were designed to operate this way. Howver, the literature I've read also suggests that a good exercise regimen accompanied by a sound diet is also highly recommended. Doing the latter usually prevents a person from becoming overweight, so...

    16. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by FreakyGreenLeaky · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeees, I think like most of the desperate /. crowd you'd do anything, provided it's vaguely female :)

      Myself excluded, of course.

      /hitches belt in a manly fashion.

    17. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by pugugly · · Score: 1

      Except of course, they're slowly evolving to be more beautiful all the time -

      Yes, all too soon they will simply be gorgeous at any age, and we will be stupid whenever we talk to them, incapable of holding down jobs - THE END IS NIGH!!!!

      Or maybe that's "Men win again" - One of those two.

      Pug

      --
      An Invisible Entity of Vast Power whose existence must be taken on faith alone: Liberal Media
    18. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by plastbox · · Score: 1

      Gee williger, Captain Obvious! Thanks for clearing that up! =P

      Getting enough proteins, fat, fiber, vitamins, minerals and the myriad of other things we need is healthy. Carbs are too, but not the high GI processed crap most people eat these days. Exercise and eating well is vital for a healthy body and a sound mind.

      Quite aside from all the health issues connected with overweight itself, doing healthy stuff keeps you from becoming a lard-ass. Ergo, being a lard-ass is the opposite of being healthy.

      Sidenote: you won't see me arguing the virtues of using BMI for anything. I currently have a BMI of 27 (where "normal weight" is in the range of 18.5-24.9) and a body fat percentage of roughly 13 (where "healthy" is 12-18 for males my age).

    19. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad I don't have any mod points. A brusque, to the point, completely justified telling-off of some dickish guy with a low ID deserves a score higher than 3.

    20. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      You could just say, "A walking heart attack (or stroke) waiting to happen." (see my previous link with Pierce Brosnan's wife)

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    21. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by peragrin · · Score: 2, Informative

      yes and no. it isn't just the maintenance, but it is also a random selection of genes too. Some people age gracefully, as they don't push them selves to hard. Those who party hard every night while in their 20's age faster than those who party occasionally, don't over work themselves, and relax.

      It is stress. too much of anything is bad, even parties. So relax, take a weekend and don't party. By the time your thirty your body will be in better shape than those who either work themselves to death, or party themselves into stupor.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    22. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by RatBastard · · Score: 0, Troll

      *sigh* Humor is lost on the touchy. Should I have put smilies all over it?

      --
      Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
    23. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Informative

      I reviewed your google link, and it appears that it's just ONE study that showed these unusual results.

      That's not enough to throw-out the literally millions of other studies which show being overweight is bad. QUOTE: "It's just rubbish," said Walter Willett, the professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "It's just ludicrous to say there is no increased risk of mortality from being overweight." Such slightly-overweight patients may simply have deeper bodily reserves to draw on in times of medical crisis like surgery or Swine's Flu, not necessarily more healthy.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    24. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>This viewpoint is shortsighted to the max..... I've seen some people in their 30s or approaching 40s that look frozen at 25.

      That's true. Rebecca Romeign (sp?) is an example of a great-looking 40-something. But eventually even she will lose her looks. Just imagine the last time you visited an old folk's home and said, "Boy I'd like to do that granny." Hasn't happened? Me neither. The point is that when I'm chatting-up some "hottie" I keep reminding myself that eventually, thanks to time she'll be an "ugly" just like me.

      You need to look for personality, not looks.
      And also I like to avoid people with bad habits:
      - Smoking is bad and destroys the lungs, causes high blood pressure, and premature skin aging
      - Drinking is bad and destroys the liver, the kidney, causes high blood pressure, and even brain damage
      - Overeating is bad and destroys the heart, the arteries, blocks bloodflow to the extremities, and causes brain damage.

      While this is a free country, and if you want to commit suicide that's your choice, there is absolutely no way you can justify any of these as an "intelligent" choice, and I consider that when choosing my mates.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    25. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Informative

      I deeply apologize, but I have to be honest. I'd rather do one of those "Real Dolls" than do Pierce Brosnan's morbidly-obese wife - and while this is a free country, and if you want to commit suicide that's your choice, there is absolutely no way you can justify any of these as an "intelligent" choice. HERE'S THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH:

      - Smoking is bad and destroys the lungs, causes high blood pressure, and premature skin aging

      - Drinking is bad and destroys the liver, the kidney, causes high blood pressure, and even brain damage

      - Overeating is bad and destroys the heart, the arteries, blocks bloodflow to the extremities, and causes brain damage.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    26. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's embarrassing is what it is, to be turned into a drooling moron and then realise later just how stupid you sounded.

      It's amazing how much your brain can shut off, and how quickly. This happened to me once, disastrously, on holiday with my significant other, with a girl that we ran into several times. It's incredibly scary to discover that we're not as in control of our behaviour/emotions as we often believe.

    27. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      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.

      Give him a break. There was an attractive woman standing next to him and he knows not what he is typing.

    28. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by oreaq · · Score: 1

      Maybe you should have tried something funny.

    29. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by MrCrassic · · Score: 1

      Actually, I have seen seniors who look extremely impressive at their old age (think looking 45-50 at 70). Those are usually the ones that age very gracefully and take care of their bodies, so those are quite rare to run into.

    30. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      No, it would also need to be funny.

    31. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 1

      Such slightly-overweight patients may simply have deeper bodily reserves to draw on in times of medical crisis like surgery or Swine's Flu, not necessarily more healthy.

      If you live longer, you live longer. It doesn't matter whether you choose to call it "healthy".

      One thing I know for sure is that dead is not healthy.

    32. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      it is also a random selection of genes too

      The genes count for more than the work and partying. I did a shitload of partying when I was young -- I was in my twenties in the seventies, and that decade was one big party. Did a lot of partying in the early eighties before my kids were born, and a lot of heavy drinking after my divorce. But I'm 57, most people think I'm in my forties. My mother is 81, and when she went to the hospital with a broken arm they had a hard time believeing she was over 65. My dad similarly has always looked young for his age, despite hard physical labor working outside as an electrical lineman and electrical construction worker all his life.

    33. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, signing all your anonymous troll posts is probably going to make it hard to get your account back out of karma hell... I'm just saying.

    34. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      P.S.

      I want to add that anyone who thinks being fat is "okay" is being hypocritical, because these same persons don't tolerate smokers, or alcoholics, or druggies. Why? Because they know those things are bad for your health. Overeating is no different.

      PS. You're an idiot. Or did it never occur to you that there might be some intersection in the sets of people that think being "fat" is okay and the ones that "tolerate smokers, alcoholics, or druggies."

      And you mention BMI below as if it's actually some meaningful indicator of anything other than that insurance companies know how to abuse statistics.

    35. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We are not impressed by the (small) size of your uid. It just shows how long you've been living in your mommy's basement, and just how inadequate women find you (note: your fat, ugly wife doesn't count).

    36. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      "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"

      I don't agree, most women don't age well. Probably because I'm 38, old enough to witness the irreversible damages of time. All girls who were cute and hot when I was 15-25, are now so-so or pretty unattractive, and there is a few dramatic changes ("wow what happened to her?!").

      It is somehow true for men, but sometimes the opposite is true, because their attractiveness is not only physical: I know quite a number of young men who were slackers/morons/jerks ("rebels" etc...) who improved with maturity. Even physically, wrinkles always look bad on women, but not necessarily on men, as evidenced by actors/actresses careers.

    37. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by geekoid · · Score: 1

      You sir, are a rat bast... oh, I see. Carry on.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    38. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      Please show me evidence of this. I have my doubts health organizations would be saying BMI>25 (or even 23 in Japan) is bad if it were not true.

      Being fit and eating a sufficient range of food is _vastly_ more important than whether or not your BMI is within the magic range.

    39. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Optic7 · · Score: 1

      Your dad's hard physical labor probably had the opposite effect on his youthful appearance than you think it had. He probably stayed looking young not despite, but because of the labor. I (and other people that I have spoken to) find that people who do physical labor for a living stay looking younger than people that do "desk" work. After all, exercise is generally considered the closest thing to a fountain of youth that we have yet found.

    40. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? He's right. Or are we playing the politically correct "fat placator" game here. Fatty.

    41. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      I don't know, every other construction worker I know looks older than their age (and I know quite a few of them). Mike, the guy who owns Felbers, has a construction company as well as the bar. He's two years yonger than me, but looks ten years older. Donnie's a construction worker, and I thought he was in his sixties, he's not even fifty yet.

      It isn't the exersize that makes them look old, I think it's damage from the sun. I'm a desk jockey, the only exersize I get is walking (I like to walk), the twelve ounce curl, and jumping to conclusions.

    42. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      BMI *is* a useful indicator. Just because it doesn't apply to the top 1% of Olympic athletes doesn't mean it's not a useful measure for the other 99% of us. I've often heard people say, "The BMI is wrong. I'm not overweight," but when their fat was later measured, it confirmed the BMI was correct.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    43. Re:Again - people were paid to study this? by Tolkien · · Score: 1

      Heh. She's not morbidly obese though. Larger than average, yes. obese, hardly. You've been watching too much tv.

  3. Hmm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To be or no to be, that is the question.
    *attractive woman walks by*
    SHITCOCK!

  4. Well, DUH! by overshoot · · Score: 1

    It takes a while for blood to get back to the brain.

    --
    Lacking <sarcasm> tags, /. substitutes moderation as "Troll."
  5. This is just the male BIOS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I BSOD all time, where BSOD is Blank Stare Of Desire.

    And yes, I need a reboot to come back

    1. Re:This is just the male BIOS by NiteMair · · Score: 5, Funny

      For everyone's sake, please do your "rebooting" in private.

    2. Re:This is just the male BIOS by darkonc · · Score: 1

      And yes, I need a reboot to come back

      . . . or, just a boot, as the case may be.

      --
      Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
    3. Re:This is just the male BIOS by Velox_SwiftFox · · Score: 1

      To me, this seems to imply that pretending to be stunned stupid would be a good ploy for a male.

      Goodness knows he wouldn't want to seem too witty from the start, and make her think he considers her ugly.

    4. Re:This is just the male BIOS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For everyone's sake, please do your "rebooting" in private.

      It's the core dump I don't want to be exposed to ;)

    5. Re:This is just the male BIOS by youn · · Score: 1

      I guess rebooting is ok... just keep the dump contents private ;)

      --
      Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that :p
    6. Re:This is just the male BIOS by ShadowXOmega · · Score: 0

      I think a more accurate term wll be "boot dump", or if is a small one "booty dump" geeez i need rest....

  6. Irresponsible Journalism by Takehiko · · Score: 5, Funny

    This story is worthless without pics!!!

    1. Re:Irresponsible Journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To quote another board: tits or gtfo

      (felt obligated to post this Anon)

    2. Re:Irresponsible Journalism by bar-agent · · Score: 5, Funny

      This story is worthless without pics!!!

      Well, the submitter had pics, but then he looked at them, got stupid, and forgot to include them.

      --
      i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
    3. Re:Irresponsible Journalism by darkonc · · Score: 1
      Here!

      Are you happy now?

      Hello?
      Sigh, lost another one...

      --
      Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
    4. Re:Irresponsible Journalism by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Funny

      I thought the article was about attractive women...

    5. Re:Irresponsible Journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      holy shit mod up, i LOLd

    6. Re:Irresponsible Journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are in the basement now, aren't you!

    7. Re:Irresponsible Journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup, the story is worthless. First of, all everyone knows it's cats, not women.
      http://xkcd.com/231/
      Because women make men permanently stupid.

      On a more serious note, I think the study was not carefully set up and I don't think it necessarily proves that the attraction was the root cause. I think you can get very similar results if you confront men with very charming other men (you know, the type that can crack a joke with you, the one that just oozes "friendly") and then after a while let them suddenly be nasty or something.

    8. Re:Irresponsible Journalism by slashmaddy · · Score: 1

      Wait a second... You actually clicked on the story link!? Are you new to slashdot? Anyway, this might help you out http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=Attractive+Women

  7. Hooray Research! by russlar · · Score: 1

    I'm so glad we have researchers around to tell us what we already know.

    --
    Anybody want my mod points?
  8. Attractive women? by therufus · · Score: 4, Funny

    What is this "attractive woman" device you speak of?

    --
    You moved your mouse. Please restart Windows for changes to take effect.
    1. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'll explain it to you right after I finish imagining a Beowulf cluster of them...

    2. Re:Attractive women? by barberousse · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The story was done in the Netherlands. 'Nuff said.

    3. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    4. Re:Attractive women? by D+Ninja · · Score: 2, Funny

      Kind of like female Night Elves...just real life.

    5. Re:Attractive women? by ajlisows · · Score: 1

      This "Attractive Woman" device.....

      Does it run Linux?

    6. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would rather not like to imagine a cluster of female Beowulf....

    7. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So... it runs Linux?

    8. Re:Attractive women? by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 1

      Ah....the Netherlands...home of 6 feet tall, blonde viking women who refuse to let you pay for their dinners.

      Remind me why I'm dating a foreigner again?

      --

      People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
    9. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do they run Linux?

    10. Re:Attractive women? by linux_0x740x750x78 · · Score: 1

      You can find her at /dev/dirtygirl. I have her "mounted" at /mnt/dirtygirl but feel free to "mount" her where ever you like!

    11. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dutch women may often be blonde, but they're certainly not generally of Viking descent, nor are they particularly pretty on average. You're right about them refusing to let you pay for their dinners, though :-)

    12. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Talk about a clusterfuck....

    13. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagine Natalie Portman. And hot grits.

    14. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gross. All I saw was a big pile of parts ala "akira".

      Thanks for that.

    15. Re:Attractive women? by bytta · · Score: 1

      I'll explain it to you right after I finish imagining a Beowulf cluster of them...

      The arabs have been building them for centuries...

    16. Re:Attractive women? by lennier · · Score: 1

      "I would rather not like to imagine a cluster of female Beowulf...."

      The last half of Season 7 Buffy. Or all of Season 8.

      "We're here to, like, kill your monster."

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    17. Re:Attractive women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Will it run linux?

  9. Temporarily? by genner · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's not true love if you recover from it.

    1. Re:Temporarily? by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Who said anything about love?

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    2. Re:Temporarily? by catmistake · · Score: 1

      It's not true love if you recover from it.

      That's not quite right. Allow me illustrate with an analogy...

      attractive:stupid::loved:insane

      So, as many troubadors have repeated, the eyes are the windows of the heart. So we start out attracted, which makes us stupid... and this evolves over time into love, which is truly a special kind of mental illness.

    3. Re:Temporarily? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... true love?
      Hahahaha.

      Oh wow, sorry.

    4. Re:Temporarily? by gr8dude · · Score: 2, 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.

      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".

    5. Re:Temporarily? by incer · · Score: 1

      He's talking about recovering from temporary stupidity, not the loss of a lover. And anyway who said that true love must be exclusive?

  10. I want to see by EEPROMS · · Score: 1

    scientific proof, in colour and with close ups of the offending body parts...

    1. Re:I want to see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's gay.

    2. Re:I want to see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must be a man. Only men go into shopping list mode. Women and smart men know it's a package deal. Besides, if you get close enough I bet you couldn't tell my anus from Jessica Biel's. You have a home on Slashdot...

      Captcha: swallows FTW

    3. Re:I want to see by EEPROMS · · Score: 1

      Only if your first thoughts were about images of the male anatomy. I cant comment about your sexual preferences but my thoughts were about the female anatomy.

  11. Less well? by ProfM · · Score: 0, Troll

    ... men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an attractive woman perform less well in tests ...

    In other news, posters who don't spend even a few minutes re-reading their posts tend to have POORER grammar.

    1. Re:Less well? by genericpoweruser · · Score: 1

      Too true, but slashdot in general has even worser grammer.
      (Take that, grammar nazis!)

      --
      A fool and his lamb are worth two in the bush.
  12. Why after? by TeethWhitener · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why not give the memory test during the chatting session to see what happens to cognitive function then? I'd be interested to see if men make the same number of mistakes if the test somehow ties into the whole 'impressing women' deal. Then again, I'd be interested to see how the women do in the same situation. I know a lot of women who dumb themselves down in the presence of a man they're interested in because they believe that men are intimidated by smart women.

    1. Re:Why after? by TBoon · · Score: 1
      According to TFA:

      "Women, however, were not affected by chatting to a handsome man."

      "But when the task was repeated with a group of female volunteers, they did not get the same results. Memory scores stayed the same, whether they had chatted to a man or a woman."

    2. Re:Why after? by TeethWhitener · · Score: 1

      Yeah but I was referring to carrying out the test with the handsome men/pretty women present. The article seems to imply that this isn't the case. But maybe there's too much going on in that type of experiment to garner any meaningful results (although that seems to be the status quo in modern psychology...ba-zing!).

    3. Re:Why after? by mckinnsb · · Score: 1

      I think that is a very interesting proposition. I don't know how your going to get that suggestion to these researchers, but I would like to see the results of that memory test. My guess is that men will actually do better in the presence of women.

    4. Re:Why after? by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Women, however, were not affected by chatting to a handsome man."

      That's because they couldn't see their wallets.

      --
      http://www.rootstrikers.org/
    5. Re:Why after? by zoeblade · · Score: 1

      I know a lot of women who dumb themselves down in the presence of a man they're interested in because they believe that men are intimidated by smart women.

      Ah, but that's pretending to be less intelligent rather than genuinely being forgetful because you're besotted by someone.

    6. Re:Why after? by carolfromoz · · Score: 1

      I think that is a very interesting proposition. I don't know how your going to get that suggestion to these researchers, but I would like to see the results of that memory test. My guess is that men will actually do better in the presence of women.

      I also think they'd do better in the presence of the woman and other men - bring out that competitive spirit.

    7. Re:Why after? by plastbox · · Score: 1

      The problem, I suspect, is actually putting the women in the same situation. It's not hard to find a few women that would be considered sexy and beautiful by any given heterosexual male.

      Women on the other hand seem much less impressed by appearances. My impression is that most chicks don't generally see guys hot enough who cause instant sexual arousal every 2 minutes. Hell, some women find Brad Pitt irresistible, while others think he is nothing special at all but start drooling at the very mention of Johnny Depp.

      Place any above-average looking, well styled chick wearing sexy lingerie in a room with a man trying to do an IQ test and he won't just score low, he will fail. Put any random male underwear model in the same room with women doing the test and most likely they will only feel uncomfortable by the half naked guy flexing.

      In other words, useless test.

    8. Re:Why after? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember reading about a study regarding women with "beach wear", temporarily turning "stupider", when they knew that they where being observed by attractive males. I don't have the energy to go looking for said article right now.

      P.S. I'm only wearing sneekers now, and I'm posting this from a library computer. Interestingly this has affected my onlookers cognitive abilities negatively, whilst I remain king of the carneval.

    9. Re:Why after? by Ian-K · · Score: 1

      ROFL
      aaah, where are my mod points when I need them most???

      --
      I'm no longer fed up with MS Windows: I go rid of them :)
    10. Re:Why after? by Reziac · · Score: 1

      I've also seen a lot of women whose brains fall apart when they're attracted to some male, so ... my guess is this works both ways about equally.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    11. Re:Why after? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't mind smart women, I just want one who will accept the fact if/when she is wrong. Even dumb women have problems accepting they are wrong... all the time...

  13. ironically by DotDotSlashDot · · Score: 1

    The obvious sudden mental incapacitation is all that is required to confirm that the lady at hand has achieved her desired effect. You must be able to recover quickly. After the initial contact, it rapidly ceases to be desirable response.

    1. Re:ironically by jackb_guppy · · Score: 3, Funny

      It was pointed out to me, that most women are smarter than their spouses. This study just proves that long lasting affect is normal.

      The person that pointed this out to me is my wife. 10+ points higher than me.

    2. Re:ironically by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was pointed out to me, that most women are smarter than their spouses. This study just proves that long lasting affect is normal.

      The person that pointed this out to me is my wife. 10+ points higher than me.

      That's just because men don't settle for the stupid women when they actually buckle down and marry.

      For messing around in college, who cares. For the rest of your life? Better make sure she has a few brain cells.

    3. Re:ironically by carolfromoz · · Score: 1

      But what are points. On the BBC website IQ test I scored higher than my husband - but he's wayyy smarter than me in lots of ways, like knowing loads about history and politics and understanding how these things fit together. So what if I can kick his ass on IT amd maths?

    4. Re:ironically by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, it's true.

    5. Re:ironically by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll be the first to admit this too. I'm an engineer and she's a stay-at-home mom right now. I've told her that she could easily do my job if she just had the experience/training.

    6. Re:ironically by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a brain surgeon and I've said this to my wife many times too.

      Just kidding. I don't have a wife (captcha: tissues).

    7. Re:ironically by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      IQ is meant to measure intelligence, not knowledge. Knowing more about history and politics doesn't make him "smarter", just better educated -- the IQ test suggests that you could have just as thorough an understanding of these things, if you cared to.

      I could be wrong, but it seems to me that how good we are at something that requires intelligence is largely a function of how much attention we put in it, and how interested we are in it, and how generally intelligent we are.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    8. Re:ironically by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      I think the key element here is interest.

      If she had the interest and the desire, she could get the experience and training. I suppose right now, being a mom is more important.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    9. Re:ironically by siriuskase · · Score: 1

      Does that mean that the ones who aren't are married to women?

      --
      If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
  14. Then it seems we all have no chance against by al0ha · · Score: 1

    a beautiful mathematician like Danica McKellar. Dang men are lucky we get anything done at all!

    --
    Did you ever wake up in the morning, with a Zombie Woof behind your eyes? -- FZ
    1. Re:Then it seems we all have no chance against by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Holy shit, the chick from The Wonder Years got HOT.

      She was still a bitch to Kevin tho...

  15. Trying to impress? by interactive_civilian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From TFSummary:

    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.

    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. ;)

    --
    "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
    1. Re:Trying to impress? by hondo77 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't forget having to say to yourself over and over: "Dontlookathertits. Dontlookathertits. Dontlookathertits. Dontlookathertits..." You spend so much time trying to not get slapped that you miss out on half the conversation.

      --
      I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
    2. Re:Trying to impress? by clarkkent09 · · Score: 1

      A possibility of sex with a very attractive woman obviously makes men excited, who can focus on some test after that. I wonder how well those same guys would do immediately after they won (or just missed out on) a million dollar jackpot or any similar event. I don't think it's anything to do with impressing women but with the fact that it's harder to do a test when you're excited about something than when you are calm. Btw I've seen women act plenty stupid when in presence of an attractive guy so it probably works both ways

      --
      Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
    3. Re:Trying to impress? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This took the few words I had to say and expressed them perfectly.

        I also sincerely doubt that "impress" comes into the equation. As a guy who has a hottie at home I sometimes find myself heavily attracted to another woman I am talking to, and I do indeed lose track of my thoughts when the thought of fucking one of these women comes into my mind. I try if anything to NOT impress strange women as I am monogamous in actions, if not in thought. "Human nature".... Perhaps. If the concept of animal or human nature is true, then I am a victim of it.

      If not, well then, I guess I just haven't evolved to the stage of total zen mind control. Midi-chlorian count WTF?

    4. Re:Trying to impress? by mckinnsb · · Score: 1

      It most assuredly works both ways. It is only that women are frequently the party with greater confidence, so they have an easier time of managing their excitement, which makes them appear to be 'smarter'. I really don't know why they needed a research study for this, although I guess there is a point to "proving" everything. (rolls his eyes).

    5. Re:Trying to impress? by TBoon · · Score: 1

      Dontlokatheritis: Failing to relocate blood towards the upper regions of the male body. May cause injury if exposed.

    6. Re:Trying to impress? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      from TFA:

      This may be simply because men are programmed by evolution to think more about mating opportunities.

      It would appear as though you are correct.
       
      p.s. Oddly enough to post this comment, the captcha was "together".

    7. Re:Trying to impress? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You havent been close to very attractive women lately, havent you? Very attractive women LOVE dumbasses, retarded, wannabees and MySpace dwelling guys. Just act like a jerk, an asshole, and totally ignore an attractive girl to see she begging to have sex with you. Works 100% of the time.

    8. Re:Trying to impress? by __aasqbs9791 · · Score: 1

      That seems likely and should be easy to test. All you have to do is convince some of the subjects that they are about to find out if they won a large jackpot, have them take the test, and then tell them what was really going on. That's basically how the Nigerian scams work, isn't it? I wonder if it would work just as well to have a attractive individual talk to someone before asking them to do something stupid (rather than offering money), would the success rate be better? I think it would be. Though more difficult to do of course.

    9. Re:Trying to impress? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      an attractive guy

      Mr. Oxymoron?

    10. Re:Trying to impress? by tompaulco · · Score: 2, Informative

      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?
      Well, I guess that would be the problem then. Perhaps if the men actually concentrated on having a conversation with the lady instead of trying to imagine them naked, then they would actual increase their chances of seeing her naked. I mean, come on, there is plenty of opportunity for imagining her naked later when she's not around. Plus then you don't have to worry about embarassing yourself by not being able to hold a conversation.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    11. Re:Trying to impress? by BikeHelmet · · Score: 1

      Like the old joke says, men have a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to operate one at a time. ;)

      Interesting thought. However, I suspect the real reason is something to do with pheramones.

      I'm around beautiful girls (subjective) all the time, but I only have that blank mind effect upon first meeting them. After being around the girl for several hours, it completely goes away, and doesn't return. I had wondered if I was that much of a geek, that just being near a girl would wipe my mind blank, but it turns out I have it in foreign environments as well. The first time I went to a pub, for example - exact same feeling. Although in that case, it went away completely within a half hour.

      I'm guessing that the pheramones somehow drag part of your conscious thought away, while your subconscious evaluates whether the person in front of you would make a good sexual partner. It seems to affect my vocabulary rather than memory, so rather than forgetting my address, I simply use smaller and more commonly used words, or occasionally use the wrong one.

      You just have to wait until your conscious thought returns, and then you can get on with your fantasizing. ;) Or in my case, wowing them with a 2000+ word vocabulary.

    12. Re:Trying to impress? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this only rated 3?
      This is by far the funniest and most accurate post

    13. Re:Trying to impress? by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      If the lady has a problem that men are looking at her tits maybe she should do something about it. Covering them up a bit more may help. These days it seems dresses get cut lower and lower, showing more and more, and we are supposed not to look at that or so? If no looking then why is it on display?

    14. Re:Trying to impress? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about the even more simple word "simpler"?

    15. Re:Trying to impress? by zoeblade · · Score: 1

      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

      Wait a minute, is that what men do when distracted by a beautiful woman? I'd assumed it was just infatuation, but do you actually picture such scenarios whenever you talk to someone you're attracted to? That sounds like an awfully resource draining thing to have to do all the time.

    16. Re:Trying to impress? by plastbox · · 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 sketch from MadTV pretty much explains my point.

    17. Re:Trying to impress? by NiteShaed · · Score: 4, 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.....

      --
      Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
    18. Re:Trying to impress? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Perhaps if the men actually concentrated on having a conversation with the lady instead of trying to imagine them naked, then they would actual increase their chances of seeing her naked.

      That's not been my experience, not often, anyway. If you make her laugh you have a good chance of getting her naked, if you have an intelligent conversation with her she'll just want you for a friend.

    19. Re:Trying to impress? by youn · · Score: 1

      Lol, the way you wrote Dontlookathertits, you made it sound like a disease, like arthritis

      look for follow ups for Dontlookathertits and the hump syndrome in your medical journal

      --
      Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that :p
    20. Re:Trying to impress? by foniksonik · · Score: 1

      I believe the problem is that this thinking of sex part happens automatically... no control, as in it's not a choice.. so with this knowledge women should a) take advantage (which they already do) or b) take pity (which some already do)

      There's no new outcomes here - just new data supporting the already known inevitable ones.

      One insight however... if you are an attractive woman and the man you're talking to *is* holding a conversation then a) he is not heterosexual or b) you are not as attractive as you think you are ;-p

      --
      A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
    21. Re:Trying to impress? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Not while talking. Before and after but not during.

      While talking the man's mind is running flat out trying to make sure he says things that are not creepy, stupid, boring, offensive or nerdy, making sure he has good posture, a good facial expression and appears confident, and a million other speech and body language filters that overload the brain causing something creepy, stupid, boring, offensive or nerdy to come out...if anything at all.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    22. Re:Trying to impress? by yurtinus · · Score: 1

      The line between "appreciative glance" and "drooling stare" isn't as fine as you're led to believe. It actually *is* quite possible to discretely appreciate a view without being offensive- even (or perhaps especially) if she notices.

      --
      +1 Disagree
    23. Re:Trying to impress? by plastbox · · Score: 1

      Why should muscles be one of the things to do the difference? I know a few nerds and geeks (myself included) who enjoy "leveling str" IRL, because it helps self esteem (and gives a good cha boost, which further boosts self esteem, which again boosts cha..)

      It's more like this:

      somewhat-fit-geek: Hi really-hot-chick, sup?
      really-hot-chick: *fake shock* Are you looking at my chest? You perv! My eyes are up here! *giggle*
      somewhat-fit-geek: Maybe you should.. you know.. put on some clothes.. Whatever *turns around to discuss thoroughly geeky stuff that makes the bimbo feel dumb/left out*
      really-hot-chick: GIEF ATTENTION PLEX! TELL ME I AM SPECIAL, SO I CAN FEEL GOOD ABOUT MY SHALLOW SELF!

      ^^

    24. Re:Trying to impress? by NiteShaed · · Score: 1

      Why should muscles be one of the things to do the difference?

      Narrow focus much? It was an arbitrary choice for the sake of an example. It could just as well have been moviestar good looks, perfect hair or a ferrari. The point was that the girl in the example liked muscle-bound fratboys, and not awkward nerds.

      It's more like this:

      somewhat-fit-geek: Hi really-hot-chick, sup?
      really-hot-chick: *fake shock* Are you looking at my chest? You perv! My eyes are up here! *giggle*
      somewhat-fit-geek: Maybe you should.. you know.. put on some clothes.. Whatever *turns around to discuss thoroughly geeky stuff that makes the bimbo feel dumb/left out*
      really-hot-chick: GIEF ATTENTION PLEX! TELL ME I AM SPECIAL, SO I CAN FEEL GOOD ABOUT MY SHALLOW SELF!

      You should have named the guy in your scenario social-retard, weird-asexual or jerk-with-an-inferiority-complex. What you just described is a guy going up to a hot girl, receiving a positive and flirty response after getting her attention, and then insulting her for no apparent reason, thus guaranteeing that he'll have plenty of time to play WoW that night 'cause he ain't getting laid.

      --
      Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
    25. Re:Trying to impress? by plastbox · · Score: 1

      No, what I described was myself, and the fact that I have no interest in bedding that sort of brainless twits. Sure, the idea of bedding pertty much anyone seemed heavenly when I was 15 but now, almost 10 years later.. not so much.

      Women who (think they) need cleavage to be noticed usually aren't worth noticing.

  16. Cardiac throughput limitations by heretic108 · · Score: 1

    It's been said that the pumping capacity of the heart is sufficient to service the needs of the brain, or those of the reproductive organs, but not both at once.

    --
    -- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
  17. Never make a pretty woman your wife by myowntrueself · · Score: 5, Funny

    Theres a song, by the Skatellites.

    Obviously this now has a scientific basis:

    If you wanna be happy
    For the rest of your life,
    Never make a pretty woman your wife,
    So from my personal point of view,
    Get an ugly girl to marry you.

    A pretty woman makes her husband look small
    And very often causes his downfall.
    As soon as he marries her
    Then she starts to do
    The things that will break his heart.
    But if you make an ugly woman your wife,
    You'll be happy for the rest of your life,
    An ugly woman cooks her meals on time,
    She'll always give you peace of mind.

    If you wanna be happy
    For the rest of your life,
    Never make a pretty woman your wife,
    So from my personal point of view,
    Get an ugly girl to marry you.

    Don't let your friends say
    You have no taste,
    Go ahead and marry anyway,
    Though her face is ugly,
    Her eyes don't match,
    Take it from me she's a better catch.

    If you wanna be happy
    For the rest of your life,
    Never make a pretty woman your wife,
    So from my personal point of view,
    Get an ugly girl to marry you.

    Say man.
    Hey baby.
    Saw your wife the other day.
    Yeah?
    Yeah, she's ugly.
    Yeah, she's ugly but she sure can cook.
    Yeah?. Okay.

    If you wanna be happy
    For the rest of your life,
    Never make a pretty woman your wife,
    So from my personal point of view,
    Get an ugly girl to marry you.

    --
    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    1. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by garyrich · · Score: 5, Funny

      For your sake, I hope your wife does not have mod points. Actually either way you are sleeping on the couch

      --
      -- your Web browser is Ronald Reagan
    2. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by heretic108 · · Score: 1

      For your sake, I hope your wife does not have mod points. Actually either way you are sleeping on the couch

      And eating frozen supermarket burgers on stale buns.

      --
      -- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
    3. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Neptunes_Trident · · Score: 5, Informative

      The song is called, "If You Wanna Be Happy" and is originally by Jimmy Soul, released 1963. Not by the band you mentioned. As a music lover, I must give credit where credit is due.

    4. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

      See, I was thinking much more along the lines of this:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MRf7DrWsBk

      Best proof of Danny John-Jules' genius.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    5. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Mod this guy informative, and then get way the hell offa his lawn...

    6. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by NewbieProgrammerMan · · Score: 1

      What, the scientific basis that women can be pretty or can cook, and that these characteristics are mutually exclusive?

      Humor Nazi Disclaimer: Yes, I know it's supposed to be funny, but I don't care.

      --
      [b.belong('us') for b in bases if b.owner() == 'you']
    7. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by cancer4xmas · · Score: 1

      Where can I download it?

    8. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by donkey55b · · Score: 1

      I was thinking the same thing. But I need to point out that you are wrong. The song is called "Ugly Woman", was written by "Roaring Lion" and came out in 1933. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Lion Wikipedia is scant on details but I've heard it and it's his song. You're right about giving credit where credit is due though!

    9. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by imess · · Score: 1

      You know why that guy was stupid and got the details wrong, don't you?

    10. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Frank Guida and Joseph Royster are usually credited with this lyric. The Skatellites may have recorded it, but if they hold a candle to Harry Belafonte, I will be surprised.

    11. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by vonart · · Score: 1

      Speaking of credit where credit is due, the song was originally recorded by Jimmy Soul, but was written by Frank Guida. It was based on a calypso by Roaring Lion, though I don't recall what the title was.

      ...hmm, Wikipedia tells me it was "Ugly Woman."

      --
      The American Dream has too much grinding and the leveling makes no sense. -GameboyRMH (1153867)
    12. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Funny

      As a music lover, I must give credit where credit is due.

      Unlike the RIAA.

    13. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by D+Ninja · · Score: 1

      I have. I think it was on the soundtrack for "My Best Friend's Wedding" which is why I was able to get it even if it was an older song. Now, I just looked it up (here), and, of course, it's the only song on there that's "Album Only" and can't be bought as an MP3. Lame.

    14. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by FauxReal · · Score: 1

      The easiest way is to get the soundtrack for My Best Friend's Wedding.

    15. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwpR2-9EvsQ

      It happens to be an older song.

    16. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, Slashdot could use a picture of his wife!

    17. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you wanna be happy for one day, get drunk.
      If you wanna be happy for one year, get married.
      If you wanna be happy your whole life, buy a garden.

    18. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by mrjb · · Score: 1

      If you wanna be happy... learn to cook damnit. It's not that hard. Start with coq au vin, and work your way up from there. Then use those mad skills to impress.

      --
      Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
    19. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by u38cg · · Score: 1

      Yes, you must. The song is called Ugly Woman (If You Wanna Be Happy) and was composed by Rafael De Leon (The Roaring Lion) who recorded it for the American Recording Company in 1933 or 34. Jimmy Soul probably picked it up via the Duke of Iron (Cecil Anderson) during his residencies in New York in the late 40s. It's also been covered by several other artists, including Bill Wyman and Randy Meisner.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    20. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      That was a remake of an old calypso song they played on the radio back in the early sixties when I was a kid. Don't know who did the original, but it wasn't the Skatellites. They probably weren't even born then.

    21. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What, the scientific basis that women can be pretty or can cook, and that these characteristics are mutually exclusive?

      Humor Nazi Disclaimer: Yes, I know it's supposed to be funny, but I don't care.

      What I find interesting is that everyone here is stuck on the cooking part and seems to miss the fact that the lyrics are implying that life with a pretty woman is more likely to be miserable in general (read the first half of the first verse) than an ugly woman. The cooking part is just a specific example, and notice that the first time cooking is mentioned the issue is timeliness ("an ugly woman cooks her meals on time") not quality.

    22. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by NewbieProgrammerMan · · Score: 1

      Yeah, the lyrics are so full of misogyny that it's hard to identify all the ways it's putting down women. I was going to make a general comment on the misogynistic tone, but decided to just pick an example and make fun of it--the way you put it is much more accurate and damning.

      --
      [b.belong('us') for b in bases if b.owner() == 'you']
    23. Re:Never make a pretty woman your wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it was RECORDED by Jimmy Soul in 1963. The writing credit went to Frank Guida. But it was actually ripped off from a 1930s calypso song called "Ugly Woman" by the great Roaring Lion. RIP, Alfonso, we REAL music lovers salute you.

  18. Scientifically meaningless? by girlintraining · · 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.

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by calmofthestorm · · Score: 4, 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!;)

      --
      93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
    2. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by BungaDunga · · Score: 1

      "had they done this and the results turned out differently, they'd have to explain why this effect only happens to heterosexual men"
      Because heterosexual men are attracted to women, and homosexual men.... aren't?

    3. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by girlintraining · · Score: 1

      Heterosexuals account for roughly 90% of the population, which makes them a reasonable group of test subjects for an experiment.

      Healthy people account for roughly 90% of the population... So do normal people... And studying either doesn't tell us a whole lot. -_- Studying the edge cases reveals a lot more about the underlying dynamics of a system than studying its average cases.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    4. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by __aarzwb9394 · · Score: 1

      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.

      The trivial answer to your question is that 90% of people are heterosexual. Much easier to find a large group of heterosexual subjects. They are seeking to validate/invalidate a theory that cognitive resources will be dedicated to trying to attract potential reproductive mates. A possible reason to exclude homosexuals could be that homosexuals (both their existence and their choices of mate) are more difficult to explain evolutionarily. How do you choose a homosexual partner based on evolutionary fitness?

      It would not be uninteresting to see if similar reductions in performance are found in homosexuals recently in the company of those they found attractive. But it might answer a different set of questions.

      There is a substantial background of research (often just speculation) into aspects of male behaviour that might be explained as trying to get a mate. Dangerous, thrill seeking behaviour for example: it has been suggested that this might be due to sexual selection (by females) in favour of those males who are particularly strong or resilient.

      What I would find interesting would be to see if there was any statistically different performance between attached and unattached people "exposed to" attractive people.

      Is the take home message send your very stylish colleague with great taste in furnishings in to meet the hot sales rep?

    5. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by __aarzwb9394 · · Score: 1

      Healthy people account for roughly 90% of the population... So do normal people... And studying either doesn't tell us a whole lot. -_- Studying the edge cases reveals a lot more about the underlying dynamics of a system than studying its average cases.

      That sounds to me like the kind of thing that's true of aircraft performance, not human mate choice or preference.

      How exactly could the average performance on tests by homosexual subjects tell us about the 90% heterosexual population??

    6. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by AdamHaun · · Score: 1

      Or women.

      --
      Visit the
    7. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by calmofthestorm · · Score: 1

      Healthy people account for roughly 90% of the population

      Which is why they're used in most studies unless the purpose is to /specifically/ study some illness.

      And studying either doesn't tell us a whole lot.

      Yes it does. It tells us about healthy people. If that's not what you wanted then you picked the wrong people to study.

      Studying the edge cases reveals a lot more about the underlying dynamics of a system than studying its average cases.

      No, it introduces noise which makes it harder to perceive the underlying patterns. If the scientists restrict their claim that this applies on average to /heterosexual/ men, then it is perfectly scientifically sound.

      --
      93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
    8. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by girlintraining · · Score: 1

      How exactly could the average performance on tests by homosexual subjects tell us about the 90% heterosexual population??

      It doesn't. The claim was about "males", not "heterosexual males". Is this something that's related to sexual orientation? That's an obvious first question I have to these results -- and it's a legitimate question, since a lot of medical literature was done on male college students and its coming out now decades later that the methodologies and procedures that were formed based on those conclusions have to be revised now. For example, women have a substantially different reaction to pain medications -- but it's only recently come to light because the original studies were only done on males aged 18-25. It was assumed based on what was already known about females that their pain tolerances and chemical pathways should be the same as males. Oops.

      Without a better understanding of the mechanic that the root cause of this effect is, people shouldn't draw conclusions. Yet, already I see arguments here on slashdot about how it justifies gender segregation in schools and more. They're using what should be exploratory research to create social and medical policy -- and that's dangerous. 90% correlation is statistically "interesting", but hardly conclusive!

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    9. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 1

      So, most americans make up a LARGE part of that 10% of unhealthy people ... where are the rest?

    10. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but the study encourages the Attractive Woman for Individuals. Maybe for some guys are brunettes and for others blondes, who knows.

    11. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by girlintraining · · Score: 1

      90% of people are heterosexual.

      90% of people is statistically interesting, but it's not conclusive when we're talking about the whole group. The fact that they're heterosexual doesn't change the statistical realities.

      Much easier to find a large group of heterosexual subjects.

      Heterosexual male subjects. And the relative "ease" of finding subjects shouldn't be a defense against due diligence. We've done studies on cancer, which accounts for 13% of all human deaths, which is quite a bit lower than 90%.

      They are seeking to validate/invalidate a theory that cognitive resources will be dedicated to trying to attract potential reproductive mates.

      And homosexuals never want to have families? Their urge to copulate must be due to some other cause simply on the basis that they are homosexual?

      A possible reason to exclude homosexuals could be that homosexuals (both their existence and their choices of mate) are more difficult to explain evolutionarily.

      Evolution has been producing them since the dawn of time. I think a deeper exploration of the issue (ie, by including them in the study) might help reveal a neurological basis for what appears on the surface to be similar external behaviors.

      It would not be uninteresting to see if similar reductions in performance are found in homosexuals recently in the company of those they found attractive. But it might answer a different set of questions.

      It doesn't not unwhat? You're trying to sound smart about something you're uneducated about. Let me fix this for you: "It would be damned interesting to see if the same changes in behavior occur with homosexuals as compared to heterosexuals. It would prove that attraction, not sexual orientation, causes a temporary drop in cognitive functioning." It's not answering a different set of questions -- it's answering a set of questions about the entire male population rather than a subset.

      Dangerous, thrill seeking behaviour for example: it has been suggested that this might be due to sexual selection (by females) in favour of those males who are particularly strong or resilient.

      Yes, but not very bright.

      What I would find interesting would be to see if there was any statistically different performance between attached and unattached people "exposed to" attractive people.

      If you want an answer to that question, you should chuck your preconceived notions of human behavior and explore all possible explanations. Anything less and you're only endeavoring to rearrange your prejudices and pass it off as thinking.

      Is the take home message send your very stylish colleague with great taste in furnishings in to meet the hot sales rep?

      No. The take home message would be to promote homosexuals to senior sales positions while the heterosexuals slave away doing administrative and secretarial work, because the homosexual will be focused on the bottom line instead of her other assets. Not the conclusion you were expecting, I suppose. Which is why more research is needed here -- jumping to conclusions hurts everyone.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    12. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by girlintraining · · Score: 1

      > Healthy people account for roughly 90% of the population

      Which is why they're used in most studies unless the purpose is to /specifically/ study some illness.

      No, they're not. Healthy people are used as the control group.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    13. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not really, no. Assuming there was a study of the long term effects of X, and I happened to take X, and I fell into the middle 90% of the bell curve, I (and 90% of the population) would be hella interested in what happens when 90% of the people take X.
       
      Or substitute "long term effects of X" with "what happens in situation Y" or just simply "Z", If I was not an edge case, I would not be interested in edge cases beyond having an academic interest, going "Hmm" and thinking "how would this apply to me?" because I wasn't an edge case.
       
      It's a simple numbers game, if you want your study to be relevant to the highest number of people, define your criteria and pull from the pool of people that occupies the majority of the bell curve. There's a huge difference between interesting and applicable.

    14. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by __aarzwb9394 · · Score: 1

      Studying the edge cases reveals a lot more about the underlying dynamics of a system than studying its average cases.

      I still fail to see how an assertion like the above is relevant to social science research. I suggest it is very likely to be wrong.

      This study appears to show that exposure to attractive potential reproductive mates is related to later reduced performance in cognitive tests. The study freely admits that their subjects were heterosexual males, and presumably lots of 1st yr students fulfilling their lab subject requirement.

      Is this something that's related to sexual orientation? That's an obvious first question I have to these results -- and it's a legitimate question, since a lot of medical literature was done on male college students

      I see no problem or connection to your example. You have no evidence that the study assumes uniformity across sexual orientations. In fact they specifically state the subjects were male heterosexuals, thus I infer that they believe this may be only reproducible in a similar group of subjects.

      Anyway, if we were seeking to do research on what conditions would be good for the general population, the heterosexuals in the cohort should outnumber the homosexuals by roughly nine-to-one. A study like this is not a bad place to start.

      The first question that occurs to me is will it be found to occur in female students? Next, will this result be found again in tests done on larger cohorts?

      It doesn't. The claim was about "males", not "heterosexual males"

      Yes indeed the slashdot headline was misleading. I bet the abstract makes clear who the subjects were.

      They're using what should be exploratory research to create social and medical policy

      And you are grossly exaggerating. Who on slashdot creates social policy?

      Regarding dinner table conversation on the subject of single sex education, the story-with-no-evidence you always hear in Britain is that "boys do better in mixed classes, girls better in single sex" with the vague explanation of boys hogging teacher time/the apparatus etc.

    15. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by __aarzwb9394 · · Score: 2, Informative

      The first question that occurs to me is will it be found to occur in female students?

      Well, apparently they did look in female students and did not find the same reduction in memory test performance.

    16. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      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

      Just because you are a fag doesn't mean you need to whine every time you are left out of something, quit playing the minority oppressed card.

    17. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Thaelon · · Score: 1

      I wanna see if it works on women.

      I bet it does.

      --

      Question everything

    18. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No! Women can only be objects of desire! How dare you... (to the Creepy Nice Guys (tm) - mod me down for the mirror I gave you, fuckers)

    19. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by giorgist · · Score: 1

      Geeeez, talk about a politicaly correct responce ... you can't see the bush for the forest.
      Give it a break ... it is a disguised boob story. Even scientific journals need them.

      I would love to verify the data my self, I guess I don't fit your excluded demographic

    20. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by story645 · · Score: 1

      pull from the pool of people that occupies the majority of the bell curve

      Which itself is another reason for the subject pool. I know a lot of psychology researchers and one of their biggest gripes is that they can't find subjects for most of their experiments, especially anything that requires a more select population. They try almost everything out on college students first 'cause it's a pool they have relatively easy access to, and anything that gives halfway decent results is thrown into proposals for funding for more complicated experiments. This could totally be the pilot study for a whole series on cognitive deficiencies due to sexual orientation, and they just started with heterosexual college kids 'cause they're the easiest to get in numbers large enough to get statistically significant results.

      --
      open source modern art: laser taggi
    21. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 1

      I have to wonder why the researchers didn't expand this theory to include homosexuals, bisexuals, or asexuals

      Indeed, why publish a result when you could instead sit on it while you test every other imaginable variant?

      before publishing results claiming every man out there can be rendered temporarily stupid by an attractive woman

      When the results are clearly about a subset of men (ie, heterosexual ones) why do you claim that their results are "claiming every man out there".

      Seems to me that you are the one with an agenda, not them.

      --
      Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
    22. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      They only used 40 people in the study, it isn't a huge study, and can't be used to draw conclusions that cover every man on the planet earth. In fact, the scientists never drew that conclusion, you apparently did after reading the summary.

      This is just a preliminary study, if they want to continue on to find out what the effects are on homosexuals, they can do more research, or if they want to expand their sample size to give it better statistical certainty, they can do they. Not all science is a double-blind experiment, some of it is exploratory.

      --
      Qxe4
    23. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by dbIII · · Score: 1

      I have to wonder why the researchers didn't expand this theory to include homosexuals, bisexuals, or asexuals

      That would be part two and slightly more difficult than just grabbing a large enough bunch of male students that anyone lying will not throw things out much.

      I don't know what this is, but it isn't science

      It's psychology instead :)
      An order of magnitude or two closer to science than economics, but I get your point.

    24. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of COURSE more research is required here. This was preliminary research on 40 people. The reason they haven't branched out is because they just finished this research. On 40 people.

      You seem to be under the impression that everything must be done at once before anything is published, and also under the impression that this is the end of the line for this area of study. In another thread you even stated that they were using this study as evidence to form social and medical policy. The article said something about same-sex schools, which really is a potential application after further study but is hardly a policy-forming event. As far as I can tell, the medical portion is an outright fabrication of yours.

      Testing women, intersex people, eunuchs, homosexuals, bisexuals (at different points along the spectrum), asexuals, pansexuals, the young, the old, the attached, the unattached, the monogamist, the polygynist, the polyandrist, the polygamist, the intelligent, the unintelligent, the social elite, the socially outcast, those who commonly work with people they consider beautiful (eg. model photographers), people in different cultures and subcultures, urbanites, suburbanites, and rural people: ALL are interesting future areas of study.

      This study has controlled explicitly for sex and sexual preference, and has an implicit bias toward young, academically inclined, and Dutch, as well as a million other things.

      Implicit in most of your arguments here is the assumption that the exclusion of the ~10%, maybe more, of males who are not heterosexual is blindingly more important than the other existing biases which don't apply outside of the test group.

      I think your real problem is with journalistic reporting on science, as well as slashdot's re-reporting. Science itself proceeds stepwise and openly and that's *good*.

    25. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

      Studying the edge cases reveals a lot more about the underlying dynamics of a system than studying its average cases.

      No offense, but that's BS, plain and simple. :) By that argument, we shouldn't bother studying the Sun. As far as stars go it's extremely average, so why bother, right? Same goes with weather. No point studying regular ol' air masses. We should only study tornados and hurricanes, right?

      No, of course not. That's absurd. After all, you can't completely understand something if you don't understand the average *in addition to* the extremes.

    26. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by dogmatixpsych · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually heterosexuals account for 98% of the population (the other 2% are homosexual {about 1%} and bisexual {about 1%}). Even the most liberal (I'm using that word statistically) estimates place homosexuals + bisexuals at no more than 5% of the population. The old 10% number came from the Kinsey reports and has not been verified since that time. Anyway, just a little FYI.

    27. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree.

      Interpreting the test results as they do is completely flawed. Your conscious mind might be impaired but your unconscious mind is on complete overdrive.

      The man probably couldn't remember his address because his unconscious mind realized that if he told the woman his address, she would instantly realize that he lived in a sub-par area of town and hence was not mate-worthy. Complete repression.

      The post encounter tests results were low because the man's mind was probably replaying the encounter over and over in, trying to analyze every gesture the woman made, every word the man said, every single detail of the encounter.

      These are not the signs of a brain that is stupid, but a brain that is on fire. The brain is not interested in performing well on the tests. It wants the damn woman!

      Try observation tests instead. Ask questions about things the woman said or did. I bet the man will score off the charts in terms of recall and analysis compared to an encounter with an unattractive woman or another man.

    28. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by agnosticnixie · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No, bisexuals account for easily 8-40% of the population depending on studies. Absolute monosexuals are just barely a majority.

    29. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > That said, I'd be extremely interested to see a similar study that takes sexual preference into account.

      Well, if you don't mind a one person study group I can assure you that YES, beautiful women knock about fifty IQ points off of a lesbian as well.
      I also have a problem keeping my eyes off of the boobs. It sucks. At least they expect it out of you guys. :P

    30. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's scientifically meaningless because the study was conducted by psychologists rather than scientists :)

    31. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      They did... apparently women didn't fare any better or worse after chatting with a man/woman and retaking the memory test.

      But when the task was repeated with a group of female volunteers, they did not get the same results. Memory scores stayed the same, whether they had chatted to a man or a woman.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    32. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      GP didn't say we shouldn't study average cases, only that doing so doesn't as rigorously test the dynamics of the system. Useful information can be gained to be sure, but understanding the fringe cases is more difficult and more interesting.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    33. Re:Scientifically meaningless? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      What about testosterone level?

      That would interest me greatly. This article explained a lot about my relationship with women over the years. I don't usually have a hard time getting laid, but I have a hell of a time getting a steady girlfriend. Even though I'd far rather have a committed, monogamous relationship, NOBODY believes this.

  19. Re:There got to be an App for that... by mjwx · · Score: 2

    Quick survey: how much would you be willing to pay for an app to that makes you look smarter in front of "attractive women"?

    Smarter no, just having an iphone should negate the effect of that app.

    What I need to do is look richer, remeber that old bald guy + late model Beemer = attractive lady in passenger side seat.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  20. The effects aren't that temporary... by Ringthane · · Score: 1

    I've got 2 exes who demonstrate the effect on this male lingered for years before wearing off...

    --
    Friends help you move... Real friends help you move bodies...
    1. Re:The effects aren't that temporary... by Samah · · Score: 1

      I've got 2 exes who demonstrate the effect on this male lingered for years before wearing off...

      You do know that executable porn is usually a virus?

      --
      Homonyms are fun!
      You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
  21. This must be why I am so smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because I have no reason to be dumb. /cry

  22. This is truly a blunderous day... by Aldenissin · · Score: 1

    And I was hoping for a big discussion on our election rights being stripped away, but this is how it ends. At the "hands" of a story about "Attractive Women Make Men Temporarily Stupid". Ponca City, We love you, I can't say how much I hate you.

    --
    Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
  23. Gender segregation in school. by Stoutlimb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now there is a concrete argument for gender segregation of boys and girls in school.... I wonder how women react around rich men?

    1. Re:Gender segregation in school. by Rogerborg · · Score: 4, Funny

      Rich men are statistically rare. It's easier to just use abusive jerks with Camaros.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    2. Re:Gender segregation in school. by girlintraining · · Score: 1

      Now there is a concrete argument for gender segregation of boys and girls in school....

      Right, because the first thing you do when you have two different groups of people in this society is to build a wall between them. Next up, Separate but Equal: It Didn't Work With the Jews, Blacks, Natives, Germans, Japanese, Communists, Gays, Or Any Other Group So Far In History, But By God, It Might Just Work With Girls.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    3. Re:Gender segregation in school. by noisyinstrument · · Score: 1

      Actually in studies I think its shown that in co-ed schools the boys perform better, the girls perform worse.

    4. Re:Gender segregation in school. by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      Simple: Whenever a rich man wants to take them home they will not be "that kind of girl". They will want a "serious long-term relationship". Yeah right. While she fucks a different one of her thousand sexy lovers every night, behind your back! You'll perhaps even raise the child of one of them, instead of yours.

      Don't make the false assumption, that money will actually get you laid more often. ^^

      Now for really attractive guys (where "attractive" does not necessarily mean "good looking"): There you can bet that her brain switches off just as much.
      It's just that girls don't talk about it, so they can still bitch about men being dumber for thinking with their private parts. ;)

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    5. Re:Gender segregation in school. by Anonymous Coward · · 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.

    6. Re:Gender segregation in school. by internettoughguy · · Score: 1

      But By God, It Might Just Work With Boys.

      Fixed that for you, it's the men their trying to separate, because you know, they're stupid. But yea, here's some evidence that boy's perform better segregated, and girls integrated. It's a moot point I suppose, because like you suggested it's unethical, and "performance" is only a small aspect of high school performance.

    7. Re:Gender segregation in school. by Artuir · · Score: 1

      I drive a Camaro and resent that comment you piece of crap! .. wait, I see what you mean. Damn it.

    8. Re:Gender segregation in school. by LS · · Score: 2, 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"

      --
      There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
    9. Re:Gender segregation in school. by catbertscousin · · Score: 1

      Rich men are statistically rare. It's easier to just use abusive jerks with Camaros.

      Don't you mean Volvos?

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished. - Avon, Blake's 7
    10. Re:Gender segregation in school. by kalirion · · Score: 1

      Now there is a concrete argument for gender segregation of boys and girls in school

      And banning homosexual from school altogether, I take it?

  24. Re:There got to be an App for that... by mister_playboy · · Score: 0, Troll

    A BMW car is a "Bimmer" and a BMW motorcycle is a "Beemer".

    Now you know.

    --
    Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
  25. Bond by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    James Bond's adversaries have known this for years. They didn't send a chubby dude in poison lipstick to meet him.

    1. Re:Bond by Mr.+Roadkill · · Score: 1

      I don't know about the poison part, and he's definitely not villainous, but you've just reminded me of what Brain from the Laundry books by Charles Stross had to do to keep his security clearance.

    2. Re:Bond by agnosticnixie · · Score: 1

      IDK, Oddjob was pretty damn chubby.

    3. Re:Bond by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      -1 Should have been a Firefly reference but wasn't.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  26. The singular of data by interactive_civilian · · Score: 4, 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. :-/

    --
    "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
    1. Re:The singular of data by NewbieProgrammerMan · · Score: 1

      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. :-/

      I wouldn't be surprised if the researchers for this study already had some concrete ideas about this and either suggested them as future work, or maybe even performed some of them as part of this study. After all, we're lucky if details from the abstract of the paper make it into these articles, let alone any of the actually "sciency" stuff in the body of the paper.

      --
      [b.belong('us') for b in bases if b.owner() == 'you']
    2. Re:The singular of data by pla · · Score: 1

      Anecdote is not, nor ever will be, the singular of "data".

      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.


      perhaps we can look into the actual physiological mechanisms which control it.

      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.

      Now, if you want to study what "reproductively desirable" means, I'll gladly participate in your study. But c'mon, some things just don't need peer review and independent corroboration to claim as trivially true.

    3. Re:The singular of data by rhyder128k · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The whole study doesn't seem very scientific to me. It seems just as likely to me that, for example, a potential social sexual situation causes a rise in anxiety, which causes the males to do less well in a test. Perhaps the presence of an animal which the subject finds intimidating, or a rusty container supposedly dangerous chemicals would produce a similar result?

      --
      Michael Reed, freelance tech writer.
    4. Re:The singular of data by interactive_civilian · · Score: 4, 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.

      --
      "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
    5. Re:The singular of data by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 1

      But it does give you an opportunity to redecorate that "special" part of the laboratory.

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    6. Re:The singular of data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anecdote is not, nor ever will be, the singular of "data".

      If you're so fucking smart, why do you continue to use this trite old meme? Show some mental balls -- make up an original way to say it, instead of trying to look clever by repeating what was effective only the first ten times it was used.

      In the end, "data" are nothing more than dressed-up and counted anecdotes.

      Pompous assholes like you would contend that defining walking as putting one foot in front in front of the other to move across the ground is only anecdotal until "verified" by a bunch of dipshits with clipboards.

    7. Re:The singular of data by polle404 · · Score: 1

      /. where a perfectly good (somewhat) scientific excuse for oogling women gets turned in to a scientific debate on good science manners. ;-)

      --

      ~men are from earth. women are from earth. deal with it.~
    8. Re:The singular of data by pjt33 · · Score: 1

      I could have told you that, because it was reported on back in May. A quick Google search shows that it was also in women's magazine Marie Claire in June. For once, though, /. can blame someone else for the dupe.

    9. Re:The singular of data by Beezlebub33 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Now you're thinking like a scientist. That's a great hypothesis. Get out there and try it! In the mean time, I'll continue doing the experiments with the pretty women.

      --
      The more people I meet, the better I like my dog.
    10. Re:The singular of data by mmaniaci · · Score: 1
      Phenomenon (doot dooo do-do-doot)

      Hahahaha! Great plug, sir.

    11. Re:The singular of data by winwar · · Score: 1

      "Sure, the outcome may seem obvious to everyone. However, it is not empirical fact until it is studied and established as such."

      You know, I could have sworn that there have been many studies about the effects of multitasking on cognitive abilities. I think some of them have even been mentioned on /. (perhaps a car analogy....)

      I would say that it has been established as a fact. And research for research sake is overrated. To paraphrase a very good researcher- just because you can study something doesn't mean it is worth studying....

    12. Re:The singular of data by danilo.moret · · Score: 1

      How many common sense "truths" have turned out to be not so true when properly analyzed over the history of human scientific endeavor?

      Give me some anecdotal evidence of that.

      --
      ^[:wq!
    13. Re:The singular of data by jesset77 · · Score: 1

      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.

      Point #1: the hypothesis was not "Hot women give get males wood", it was "Hot women make males stupid". Personally, I would not have minded calling Jamie and Adam in on that one. :P

      Point #2: Prior to obtaining empirical evidence on this hypothesis, how would you recommend we figure out how to reverse the effect? Are you saying that if this research leads to a drug which increases intelligence in the company of lovely ladies, that you would still not approve?

      In short, you've come onto /., News for Nerds, in order to discourage Nerds away from a potentially fruitful Scientific Inquiry which may lead to improved chances of Getting Laid.

      --
      People willing to trade their freedom of expression for temporary entertainment deserve neither and will lose both.
  27. Can I just add something here? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    I think Southern women are the sexiest in the world!

    1. Re:Can I just add something here? by Rogerborg · · Score: 5, Funny

      The women in Antarctica all have beards. Also, most of them are men. You may be thinking of penguins.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    2. Re:Can I just add something here? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Southern men too! Something about that accent sends me wild.

    3. Re:Can I just add something here? by Jhon · · Score: 1

      Tammy Faye Baker. Yum!

    4. Re:Can I just add something here? by euxneks · · Score: 1

      The women in Antarctica all have beards. Also, most of them are men. You may be thinking of penguins.

      This went from funny to odd to bizarre. I applaud your work sir!!!

      --
      in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
    5. Re:Can I just add something here? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The women in Antarctica all have beards. Also, most of them are men. You may be thinking of penguins.

      Bearded Penguins? Are we talking nuns with a gland condition? Or cross dressing Priests?

    6. Re:Can I just add something here? by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      Until the next morning, when the extreme emotional roller-coaster that is her character starts to take you for the ride called "everyday life". ;)

      If you had been there, you knew.

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    7. Re:Can I just add something here? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The women in Antarctica all have beards. Also, most of them are men. You may be thinking of penguins.

      Beards, men, and penguins. I'm almost certain there's a linux joke in there somewhere.

    8. Re:Can I just add something here? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh oh -- I thought I got drunk and had sex with a midget nun. But now I'm afraid that I might have fucked penguin.

    9. Re:Can I just add something here? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think Southern women are the sexiest in the world!

      Quit advertising your ignorance of Ukrainian women.

    10. Re:Can I just add something here? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Women from the South of what? Here in Europe, women from the north tend to be a lot sexier than those from the south.

    11. Re:Can I just add something here? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      You may be thinking of penguins.

      He's obviously a Linux user.

  28. poor social research by drDugan · · Score: 1

    NOT ALL MEN are sensors, concerned primarily with the "look" and image of beauty that is socially defined as "attractive". Most are, but not all. This social, media driven image of one beauty for women is a big social myth that even if not true for some men, most all men learn that this one, social image is the "normal" for attractive, so they mimic the behaviors of other men.

    FTA: "'We conclude men's cognitive functioning may temporarily decline after an interaction with an attractive woman.'"

    More accurately, they could say: "conclude MANY men's cognitive functioning".

    Jung developed and published models of cognition in the early 1900s that explain directly the different means by which people (men and women) collect information and make judgments. These models are not scientific (yet), but rather observational classification. They have been re-used and rediscovered multiple times under many different names for decades. It is really frustrating to read professional scientists doing funded social research that blurs the lines and causes confusion about these issues in the lay public. While I do not dispute their results, the point is that there are observational models that show that these results do not apply to all men, and these models can reproducibly predict (in some people) which men it would apply to.

    It will be such a huge leap forward for humanity when there is reproducible scientific evidence and measurement techniques to back up Jung's neural models so that social researchers can segment the population intelligently for this kind of social research.

    1. Re:poor social research by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

      ^^^^
      This, right here? What you just wrote? This is why intelligence no longer propagates itself.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    2. Re:poor social research by CorporateSuit · · Score: 1

      Incorrect. They didn't arbitrarily tell the men that they should be attracted to their conversation buddies. They had the men report the amount of attraction they had toward the opposing member of each dialogue before the testing began. You had an argument all ready to go before you even bothered yourself with what the study said, didn't you?

      --
      I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
    3. Re:poor social research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      methinks thou doth protest too much!

    4. Re:poor social research by aXis100 · · Score: 1

      You're right, not all men were affected by the attractive women. The others were gay and had buckleys chance of chatting to an attractive male in a lab. :)

  29. I'll sue my university. by drolli · · Score: 1

    The supervisor of the exam in theoretical physics was not ugly enough. I want to get the same chances as the female co-students.

  30. They have wrapped it up... by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 1

    This year's IgNobel Prize in Biology that is.

  31. This is stupid... by tengeta · · Score: 1

    All this study proves is that hot chicks are way cooler than a test, who the fuck wants to look at stupid paper when theres some nice ass up in the room. WOW! who would have known?

    --
    "They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!"
  32. The problem is obvious by hyades1 · · Score: 1

    They're testing the wrong head.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  33. This is news?? by roc97007 · · Score: 1

    Man, I'm in the wrong business.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  34. Should have used lesbians and gay men as controls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Instead of just going for the obvious conclusion, they should have tested with gay men talking to attractive men and lesbians talking to attractive women. Then the results might be something to talk about, rather than a statement of the obvious.

  35. Why is this news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Attractive women discovered this 40,000 years ago

    1. Re:Why is this news? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      No kidding. From the Department of No Duh, no doubt. I've nearly crashed multipole times watching women walk on the side of the road. (yes, pun)

  36. Blood flow? by R2.0 · · Score: 1

    Did they measure blood flow? Because all that blood going to the penis has got to come from somewhere.

    --
    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
  37. Abusive behavior caused confusion. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    CORRECTION: This story is worthless.

    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.

    1. Re:Abusive behavior caused confusion. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What? Why the hell is this 4 Insightful?

    2. Re:Abusive behavior caused confusion. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because men are not robots around women. When there is abusive behavior, expect confusion.

  38. Hot researchers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The first thing I thought when I read this article was: "wait, how'd they get hot girls in their lab?"

    Then I realized it was a psychology group, not engineering like I'm used to.

  39. And married men.... by Ollabelle · · Score: 2, Funny

    are therefore permanently stupid. Just ask the wife.

    --
    Ibid.
    1. Re:And married men.... by Ian-K · · Score: 1

      assuming you got a pretty wife ;)

      --
      I'm no longer fed up with MS Windows: I go rid of them :)
    2. Re:And married men.... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Not permanently -- they get old and ugly sooner or later. ED isn't because of your aging process, it's because of hers.

  40. Duh by mbone · · Score: 1

    I am going to be redundant here, but this is not news. It is, however, perfect fare for the "The Telegraph."

  41. But it goes both ways by sayfawa · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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. We just don't notice when it's women our age 'cause we're too busy trying to think of how we can get in their pants, the same as they are.

    --
    Free the Quark 3 from asymptotic confinement! Bring your charm! Don't get down! All colours and flavours welcome!
    1. Re:But it goes both ways by commodore64_love · · Score: 1, Funny

      >>>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.

      Young teen or college-aged women who have a crush on you are fun to play with:

      - "Hello... would you like to see a movie?" "Seriously???"
      - "Of course! Just one little catch." "Okay."
      - "You ever see those European beaches where the women go topless? I'd like you to do that for me, somewhere private of course." "Uhhhh...."
      - "Come on. Europeans do it all the time. It's no big deal." "ooookay."
      - "Thank you. You are such a sweetie." "(smiles)"

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    2. Re:But it goes both ways by Oswald · · Score: 1

      Well, on the one hand, TFA denies this. Supposedly they tested women too, and they kept their shit together.

      OTOH, I have to agree with you. My wife spent a couple weeks trying to get me to ask her out when we met. I'm slow, but I finally figured it out and asked for her number, and she forgot the digits. She said something like, "You'll have to get it out from the supervisor." (Yeah, we worked together.) I thought she was acting a bit too unimpressed, but I went out with her anyway -- later she told me that she had just gotten too nervous to remember her phone number.

      I suspect these guys devised a shitty test.

    3. Re:But it goes both ways by catmistake · · Score: 2, 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."

    4. Re:But it goes both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      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.

      So they get smarter than they usually are when there see hunks?

      Alert the president! We have a new strategy to school curriculum.

    5. Re:But it goes both ways by bladesjester · · Score: 1

      Women are much better at deception than men, and they're smart enough to know that stupidity is a turn on for guys...

      I must be weird then, because stupidity is a *huge* turn off for me. I have met incredibly beautiful women before that pretty much instantly turned me off because they had no freaking brain.

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    6. Re:But it goes both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a slashdotter. So obviously, you're making this up.

    7. Re:But it goes both ways by catmistake · · Score: 1

      I must be weird then, because stupidity is a *huge* turn off for me. I have met incredibly beautiful women before that pretty much instantly turned me off because they had no freaking brain.

      And what about a woman twice as smart as you, crossing her eyes, sticking out her tongue with cleavage showing, painted nails, makeup, heels, etc. the whole nine yards, jiggling all over and acting like a moron with a stupid child's voice? I think you probably like thinking of yourself the way you do, that you are different, but all you're doing is denying what makes you male. You don't know yourself as well as you think you do. So forget that noise, brother. This above all: to thine own self be true.

    8. Re:But it goes both ways by xtracto · · Score: 1

      Hey! I saw that porn flick too!

      of course, what happens between "ooookay" and "thank you. You are such a sweetie" gets quite nasty.... I am glad you didn't describe it in /.

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
    9. Re:But it goes both ways by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      Still makes no sense, your scenario sounds like she's making fun of you. A smart girl who is obviously attracted to you and doing something to make you notice her: Yes, that is a turn on; but it doesn't get better by that something being stupid, though something stupid is better than nothing.

    10. Re:But it goes both ways by catmistake · · Score: 1

      The point is it's nigh impossible to tell how intelligent a person is by how they act because they could be deceiving you. The things women do to attract men are based in deception (lipstick, for instance, is a deception), so also might their behavior. And the whole fucking ritual has always been stupid... just what is intelligent about mating? How do brilliant women mate differently from average women? I think the whole thing is a male oriented perception, an illusion we are coaxed into by their trappings. Someone who claims to only like smart women is obviously rebelling from the widely held myth that a man will have sex with anything warm to set themselves apart, to say they are more refined (ahem, bullshit), and basically to make an excuse for a lack of confidence that prevents them from going for the gold in most situations. How do I know this? Because I used to say the same crap: "I only like smart girls." Took me years to realize that biology was oh so much more powerful than intellect or free will.

    11. Re:But it goes both ways by plastbox · · Score: 1

      I know I should probably make a joke about how scenarios like that play out in every slashdotters head daily but never actually happens but.. meh

    12. Re:But it goes both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Assuming promiscuity, that's great.

      If, OTOH, you're largely monogamous, and therefore expect a relationship with sex as an included, but reasonably small, part, then the stress of putting up with a dumb girl during the 80% of the time you're not fucking may negate the pleasure from the other 20% of the time you are. (Where "fucking" shouldn't be taken too literally; interpret that 20% as "portion of time her hotness is making you happy".)

    13. Re:But it goes both ways by plastbox · · Score: 1

      How do I know this? Because I used to say the same crap: "I only like smart girls." Took me years to realize that biology was oh so much more powerful than intellect or free will.

      Cut yourself some slack. I very much doubt that you give into every "biological" whim without consulting your intellect and will! I like smart girls. In general I prefer people capable of critical thinking and intelligent conversation. That doesn't mean that my penis has never been attracted to some stereotypical "dumb blond" who thinks her greatest assets are her ass, boobs and styling skill.

      Yes, biology is powerful. Doesn't mean I'll hump "anything warm". To me, there is a bit of talking involved in the whole "getting to the bed"-process, and someone who brings nothing to the table but appearances quickly looses my interest. In fact, my impression of someone vastly changes how physically attractive they are. Someone plain-looking but fun and interesting can become pretty, while the hottest dumb chick quickly becomes about as attractive as a walking Fleshlight.

    14. Re:But it goes both ways by Captain+Hook · · Score: 2, Funny

      may negate the pleasure from the other 20% of the time you are.

      4.8 Hours a day, every day, week in/week out, for years ? I feel so inadequate

      --
      These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.
    15. Re:But it goes both ways by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      >>>what happens between "ooookay" and "thank you. You are such a sweetie" gets quite nasty...

      I don't have casual sex. All I really want is a chance to see the woman topless. If she shows me "the goodies" then I'll keep my end of the bargain, and take her out to dinner or a movie. Most women don't really have a problem being topless, once they get over their initial shyness.

      Sometimes they'll do it and you don't even have to ask! I remember one time I was visiting a friend's room to copy her classnotes, and while I was there, her roommate walked-in wearing nothing but a towel. I apologized and said I'll leave and she said, "No it's okay." She then proceeded to get dressed in front of me. It was the first time I've ever seen a woman naked, and the memory is burned into my brain.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    16. Re:But it goes both ways by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>Someone who claims to only like smart women is obviously rebelling from the widely held myth that a man will have sex with anything..... How do I know this? Because I used to say the same crap: "I only like smart girls." Took me years to realize that biology was oh so much more powerful than intellect or free will.
      >>>

      Just keep repeating this mantra:
      - She looks great now, but she's going to get as fat as her mom.
      - She looks great now, but she's going to get as fat as her mom.
      - She looks great now, but she's going to get as fat as her mom.

      A bucket of ice also helps. ;-)

      And really I do prefer smart girls. A woman wearing glasses and intently studying a book is a real turn on for me, because it means we can talk intelligently about stuff rather than the typical ditz response - "OMG she's wearing white after Labor Day!" I recall back in school I met 2 sorority girls at roughly the same time. One was shy but obviously intelligent; the other was intelligent too but talked like she was permanently drunk and/or partying. I chose the shy one because once she came out of her shell, she was great company and we had great conversations. The other one is still single and still a ditz.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    17. Re:But it goes both ways by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>To me, there is a bit of talking involved in the whole "getting to the bed"-process, and someone who brings nothing to the table but appearances quickly looses my interest.
      >>>

      True but their nude bedroom photos make a great addition to your c: drive porn collection! ;-)

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    18. Re:But it goes both ways by plastbox · · Score: 1

      c: drive? Are you crazy? If I was that type of guy, I very much doubt I'd store something like one-of-a-kind nude pictures taken by myself on the c: drive. Imagine if the os crashes or *GASP* someone finds some flaw in Windows or something and they were stolen or lost!

    19. Re:But it goes both ways by XueLang · · Score: 1

      I do NOT act like that, thanks very much.

      We talk science, politics, computers, and all else. We met in college for fuck's sake. No, not in a sorority.

      Yeah, I sometimes have my cleavage showing and wear makeup... didn't really start that until after we were dating though. God forbid I want to look nice. What, we can't be both attractive and smart at the same time?

      And yes, of the two of us, my IQ's higher. ;) Naturally I have to pick on him about this now and then. Though to get a woman *twice* as smart he'd probably have to drink a hell of a lot of alcohol and kill a fair few brain cells since we're both rather high up on the scale.

      (This would be bladesjester's girlfriend of... shit, how many years has it been now? are we up to four?).

      As far as "to thine own self be true"... don't think I've ever met anybody truer to himself, quite frankly. There's more than enough posers in the world, I certainly don't want to be dating one.

      --
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.
    20. Re:But it goes both ways by XueLang · · Score: 1

      Smart women do not mate any differently from normal women, no. However you have to consider that biological drives also seem geared toward fitness. Humans evolved as an intelligent species because intelligence was a trait that assisted with survival. Therefore somebody smarter is now seen as a more fit mate, because smarter children will be more likely to survive long enough to mate and have more children and pass on the bloodline. If we look at pure biology, that's what life is all about: screwing somebody who will make babies that will live long enough to screw and make more babies.

      Of course at the moment I'm ignoring the Idiocracy theory, since there are a lot of biological processes that have not quite caught up with the modern world. Just look at all the stress responses that have become maladaptive now that our stressors involve sitting at a desk instead of running from something that's going to eat us.

      --
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.
    21. Re:But it goes both ways by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>We talk science, politics, computers, and all else..... I sometimes have my cleavage showing and wear makeup...

      (looking down). I am intrigued by your "ideas". Please sign me up for your newsletter or blog. ;-) Just joking. ;-) Although I do like current feminine styles with Miley Cyrus, Emily Osment, and other young women showing lots of skin. It reminds me of the 70s styles, which is a fashion statement I fully support.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    22. Re:But it goes both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember one time I was visiting a friend's room to copy her classnotes, and while I was there, her roommate walked-in wearing nothing but a towel. I apologized and said I'll leave and she said, "No it's okay." She then proceeded to get dressed in front of me. It was the first time I've ever seen a woman naked, and the memory is burned into my brain.

      Lulz
      Here you have the typical Slashdot Engineer:
      An engineering student was riding his new bicycle around campus. He stopped to talk to a friend who was another engineering student. His friend asks, where did you get the new bicycle? He replies, oh youâ(TM)ll never believe it. Yesterday this beautiful blond came up to me riding this new bicycle. She jumped off her bicycle, took off all her clothes, and says to me, take whatever you want. So I took the bicycle. His friend replies, good choice, the clothes probably wouldnâ(TM)t have fit you anyway....

    23. Re:But it goes both ways by XueLang · · Score: 1

      *snickers* Ideas, sure. ;) Hoping one of my "ideas" will "slip out"? :P

      Though speaking of, there's apparently a movement going across the nation where women are trying to get the right to go topless, since men are allowed in most places to wander about without shirts and not get arrested. Now there's a fashion statement I'm sure some folks would love to catch on.

      --
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.
    24. Re:But it goes both ways by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Or the other way. Once, fifteen or twenty years ago, I was in a laundromat with my wife. There was a young woman there, reasonably attractive, wearing comfortable but hardly excessive clothes. Then I noticed she was doing physics homework, and man did that hit hard. If I'd been ten or fifteen years younger then, and unattached, I'd have tried to figure out how to get to know her (and, given my social skills, probably failed miserably). I still remember her hair and height and general body shape.

      Take reasonable good looks, add a hint of sexuality (like mostly bare legs), show me some intelligence, and I'm smitten. Badly.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    25. Re:But it goes both ways by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      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.

      I knew that from my teen years and I'm not attractive. They get stupid in different ways though. They don't get socially inept, clumsy and slow-witted like males, they get poor judgement and a nasty case of the rose-colored glasses. Some act "ditsy" (or more "ditsy" :P ) to attract males, but it's just an act.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    26. Re:But it goes both ways by jonaskoelker · · Score: 1

      "Come on. Europeans do it all the time. It's no big deal."

      It's funny because over here in Europe we tell that same story about Americans ;-)

    27. Re:But it goes both ways by bladesjester · · Score: 1

      And yes, of the two of us, my IQ's higher. ;)

      Yeah. Yeah. We're in the same 5 point range so it's debatable whether or not there's any real difference in scores :P

      Though to get a woman *twice* as smart he'd probably have to drink a hell of a lot of alcohol and kill a fair few brain cells since we're both rather high up on the scale.

      Not to be immodest, but to get a partner twice as smart as either of us, we'd basically have to find someone on a level with Hawking and even that might be debatable...

      (This would be bladesjester's girlfriend of... shit, how many years has it been now? are we up to four?).

      Probably, yeah. Possibly a little more.

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    28. Re:But it goes both ways by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 2, 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.

    29. Re:But it goes both ways by bladesjester · · Score: 1

      She was rather shy before she met me. There was a lot of time spent building her confidence and dragging her out of her shell when we first met.

      Of course, there was also quite a bit of time spent yelling at her, telling her to stab harder (fencing) lol

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    30. Re:But it goes both ways by bladesjester · · Score: 1

      At least he didn't look down and say "You...poor...thing..." :P

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    31. Re:But it goes both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While I agree with your general premise. It's only in certain societies that women always do the choosing. In societies, which practice maritial kidnapping, non-consentual forms of arranged marragies, or don't consider coersive rape as wrong, the women in question don't always select with whom they have sex. I guess allowing women to have veto power in the relationship is the price we men pay for recognizing their innate human rights.*shrug*

    32. Re:But it goes both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Be honest, you don't want them to be smarter than you. Because then they'd surely become a ball-busting bitch. Trust me, you don't want too much intelligence combined with raging emotion.

    33. Re:But it goes both ways by XueLang · · Score: 1

      9 points, dear. We're within 9 points of each other. :P You keep wanting to forget that extra 4. *giggles and pokes at you*

      --
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.
    34. Re:But it goes both ways by bladesjester · · Score: 1

      Care to make a retraction on that now that we've traded numbers again? *smirks and giggles*

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    35. Re:But it goes both ways by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>to get a partner twice as smart as either of us, we'd basically have to find someone on a level with Hawking...

      His IQ is somewhere around 180, so that puts your IQ at 90-something. Is that what you're trying to tell us? (oooops)

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    36. Re:But it goes both ways by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>Hoping one of my "ideas" will "slip out"? :P

      Heh. Reminds me of Family Guy - "Yes please." - Peter. "Then you'll have to buy part 2 of this educational series."
      .

      >>>At least he didn't look down and say "You...poor...thing..." :P

      Hey you stole my line! ;-) It's never happened but I've always thought if someone accused me of having a small tool (like the George Costanza shrinkage scene), I'd just reply, "Well at least I'm not a member of the itty bitty titty committee."

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    37. Re:But it goes both ways by bladesjester · · Score: 1

      His IQ is indeed rated at 160 or 180 depending on where you look. However, I'd say that his intellect is much higher than that score would indicate. Among other things, distraction caused by pain would throw the test score off pretty dramatically judging by the difference in scores I got when I did it in a normal manner and while working on other projects at the same time.

      Xue and I both test in the 140-145 range. However, we both have areas where our aptitudes would, in all honesty, put us rather above that.

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    38. Re:But it goes both ways by XueLang · · Score: 1

      Getting the point fail.

      Hawking is the person with the only IQ close enough to come near that "twice as much" range, given he's got the highest IQ of anybody either of us can think of currently alive.

      I suppose he could have said "nobody is twice as smart as we are" but using an actual person to illustrate works better.

      Find me somebody with a 300 IQ and maybe we'll use them in the example instead.

      --
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.
    39. Re:But it goes both ways by XueLang · · Score: 1

      Hey you only ever told me the score you got while you were bored and distracted. :P

      --
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.
    40. Re:But it goes both ways by XueLang · · Score: 1

      The "you poor thing" comment is actually from something that happened the last time we went out together. I had a sweet tooth. So we bought candy (after unwrapping it of course so it was unsalvageable). But being the klutz I occasionaly (okay, often) am, I dropped it. "You poor thing" was from the guy behind the counter, in reference to me dropping my candy... as he stared down my shirt.

      --
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.
  42. How would you function talking to one of these? by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 2, Informative
    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
    1. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Is it just me or do all "stars" look like homely chicks with bodies of 20% silicone and a personality of a poodle?

    2. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by girlintraining · · Score: 1

      The real reason for the study, revealed: Men don't want to be responsible for the social implications of sexually objectifying women. *shakes head* I'm still waiting for the day a bunch of men get together and research why the average man spends at least two nights a month sleeping somewhere other than his own bed.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    3. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by swilly · · Score: 3, Funny

      That's weird. I thought I had something clever to say, but now I can't remember what it was.

    4. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      I'd tell her that I don't get why they think that she's good looking, and that I wonder if she's just as boring inside. :P

      Believe me, she will start trying to prove *her* worthiness. ^^

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    5. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      More than half of those are actually ugly because of one or more of:

      - too much make-up
      - too much silicone
      - no sign of intellect in the eyes
      - too perfect, "doll" body proportions - it screams "fake"
      - general lack of individuality - put 3 of them in a row, and you can't tell one from another except for the color of their hair

    6. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by SL+Baur · · Score: 2, 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!

    7. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by D+Ninja · · Score: 1

      You can see a personality? Wow...you're pretty freaken talented...

      Looks is not necessarily inversely related to personality as much as people like to tell themselves that to make themselves feel better about their bad looks. There are very good looking people with great personalities and very ugly people with the personality of a tree stump.

    8. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by MrCrassic · · Score: 1

      LOL. Puh-lEEEEEEEEEze.

      I'm not really into "collecting" pics of hot women (or really getting captivated by them), but this is why you move to a city. A big one. Women like this are all over the place here. Some of them are actually quite smart too. SOME.

    9. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real reason for the study, revealed: Men don't want to be responsible for the social implications of sexually objectifying women.

      And what implications might those be? Seems to me, in the long term the most dramatic side-effect is the continuation of the species.

    10. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dude! now I'm stupid the whole day. how the heck am I supposed to go to work today?:((

    11. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You did try to impress a webpage full of pictures?

    12. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Studies show that, when presented with a photo of an attractive woman, men look at the face. Women look at the dick.

      But keep on campaigning against sexism by assigning negative traits to all men and positive traits to all women! Making the world a better place!

    13. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Studies show that, when presented with a photo of an attractive woman, men look at the face. Women look at the dick.
      when presented with a photo of an attractive woman, men look at the face. Women look at the dick.
      when presented with a photo of an attractive woman, Women look at the dick.

      WUT?

    14. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      I don't know that there is actually a higher percentage of attractive women in large cities compared to anywhere else. You just see a lot more people throughout the day than you would if you lived somewhere in a small town. And the population churn is much higher in a city as well. I can go back home and odds are good that I'll see several people that I recognize if I go out to eat. Not so much where I live now even though it's a smaller city at only 300k or so.

    15. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by incer · · Score: 1

      Possible reasons: 1 - He's passed out from alcohol abuse 2 - He's working abroad 3 - He's on vacation 4 - His house came down 5 - He's staying with a friend who's recovering from injury/hospitalization 6 - His wife is a bitter feminist who's impossible to endure without an occasional stress relief. I don't see how this study has anything to do with what you are talking about.

    16. Re:How would you function talking to one of these? by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1

      Actually, mamy of the women I picked for that list - not ALL of them, I mean hell, Paris Hilton is on the list and she ONLY has looks - were picked because they have not just beauty, but talent and in a number of case, smarts (nobody ever said Jodie Foster was the best looking woman in Hollywood, especially now in her late '40's, but they all pretty much acknowledge she's no dummy - and neither is Ivanka Trump).

      There ARE quite a few on the list who are there mostly for looks, I'll admit. But almost all of them have SOME talent, possibly even the models.

      And anybody who thinks they all look alike is an idiot. They range the gamut of looks.

      As for makeup, almost ALL women wear makeup. Only a geek who's never seen a woman up close without makeup would comment about women wearing makeup. And since most of these women are in entertainment, by definition, to paraphrase the Church of the Subgenius, "Too much makeup is not enough." To quote Julianne Moore (who didn't make the list), "You can never be too pretty."

      The only people criticizing these women are misogynist geeks. And every one of these geeks would kill to get their hands on any one of these women - or their ugly sisters.

      --
      Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  43. An alternate explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rather than having used up all of their mental energy thinking of ways to impress the women, maybe the men while they were taking the test, instead, were more occupied with fantasizing and mentally reviewing their conversations with the women.

  44. Follow up study by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    An interesting follow-up might be to see if men that identify themselves as being in a "happy relationship" perform as poorly as their single counterparts. Does the brain turn off this mechanism, or at least reduce it, if you're not really looking for someone, or are guys ever looking to upgrade?

  45. Scientific study by Gi0 · · Score: 1

    ..right.And we needed a study to realize that huh?In other news,water is wet.

    --
    There's no patch for stupidity
  46. The research team by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds like I'd like to meet the research team. At least some of them, anyway. You know, to do a little research.

  47. Re:There got to be an App for that... by russotto · · Score: 4, Funny

    Quick survey: how much would you be willing to pay for an app to that makes you look smarter in front of "attractive women"?

    A lot less than for an app which makes me look like Brad Pitt in front of attractive women. Got one of those?

  48. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And nobody cares. Seriously, what difference does it make?

    --
    "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
  49. Another "They had to research this?" waste of mone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Can we now see the correlation between a woman's breast size and a man's I.Q.?

    At least the political class can pick this up, segregate schools based on gender and proclaim a triumph in education reform

  50. Nancy Wilson by macraig · · Score: 1

    Nancy Wilson still makes me stupid, then!

  51. Company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this proof that women don't belong in the workplace?

  52. Ttrying to impress beautiful women by Bent+Mind · · Score: 1
    I see this is listed as a speculation. However, I really have to wonder at its validity.

    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.

    From my own experiences, I don't think it has much to do with trying to impress beautiful women. Rather, I seem to slip into a day-dream like state that requires a shock to the system to snap out of. Telephone poles work rather well.

    My assumption has always been that it is a hormonal thing. It would be interesting to measure blood flow and hormone levels in the brain during these tests. However, I'd guess that being attached to a bunch of wires might change the outcome.

    --
    Request a Linux Shockwave player here: http://www.macromedia.com/support/email/wishform/
    1. Re:Ttrying to impress beautiful women by uniquegeek · · Score: 1

      Ah yes, also known as the Schrödinger sexuality paradox. We're testing to see if it's alive or... dead.

    2. Re:Ttrying to impress beautiful women by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wires fetish.

      Hey, don't judge.

  53. Misinterpreted by PPH · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.

    Its not that he forgot. He was trying to figure out a way to say, "In my mom's basement" and still seem cool.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  54. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A BMW car is a "Bimmer" and a BMW motorcycle is a "Beemer".

    Cite an authoritative source for this yuppie self-glorifying bullshit or STFU.

    BMW and Harley owners are just pussies who can't think for themselves, so they make the "safe" buy.

  55. What do you mean "temporary"? by HangingChad · · Score: 4, Funny

    Crimeny, women have made me stupid for decades. When does it get better?

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
    1. Re:What do you mean "temporary"? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      When you die.

  56. huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what kind of loser goes around caring what women think and trying to impress them?

    1. Re:huh? by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      what kind of loser goes around caring what women think and trying to impress them?

      Gee, real intelligent comment. Maybe you should wait 30 minutes after looking at porn to post. ;)

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    2. Re:huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what kind of loser goes around caring what women think and trying to impress them?

      Someone that gets laid. Obviously you have had no experience with that.

    3. Re:huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no, in fact, someone who tries to impress will generally fail and say something stupid, and get laughed at not laid, you're confusing l-verbs.

  57. Re:There got to be an App for that... by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 1

    BMW and Harley owners are just pussies who can't think for themselves, so they make the "safe" buy.

    It may be true, but try saying that to your local hells chapter.

  58. Paradox by WED+Fan · · Score: 2, Funny

    If an attractive woman approaches a /.er does he become stupid? (O.k. exclude the obvious Apple fanboys, because I'm not sure if an attractive guy just make those guys stupid or if they just stay gay.) Now, does he have the ability to access /. afterwards? If he has sex with her, does he lose his account? If he has a 4 digit ID, does that mean he is immune, or just repulsive to attractive women?

    --
    Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
  59. Missing the best bit... by Ash.D.Giles · · Score: 1

    After all the comments here "Why is someone being paid to do this", "This is lame" and so on, I think this research is brilliant. Next time I say something stupid to my girlfriend, or make a dumb choice I now have an excuse and a way to butter her up in one go!

  60. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 2, Informative

    those are the 1%ers. Isn't the typical harley buyer a dentist or accountant?

    --
    "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
  61. Re:There got to be an App for that... by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 1

    I don't know. I'm just sayin' that most people who buy harleys that I know are in clubs that require harleys. Smart people buy dependable bikes (not-harley).

  62. The obvious remedy... by Schnoogs · · Score: 0

    is to pursue a career in computing which guarantees zero opportunities for this phenomena to occur

  63. Why the average Slashdotter is so smart by RobVB · · 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.

    --
    I'd rather you rationally disagree than irrationally agree.
    1. Re:Why the average Slashdotter is so smart by dargaud · · Score: 1

      I love the insightful mod on you post. I don't know if it's 2nd degree humor or if it's real.

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    2. Re:Why the average Slashdotter is so smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ha! Insightful : )

    3. Re:Why the average Slashdotter is so smart by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      It has to be 2nd degree humour; I LOL'd so hard... and then I noticed the mod and I had to check the moderation log: 100% insightful. LOL.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    4. Re:Why the average Slashdotter is so smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That doesn't work for me... my mom is hot!!!

    5. Re:Why the average Slashdotter is so smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Score:5, Insightful)

      Explaining why this is significant is left as en exercise for the reader.

  64. Try hobbies... by s-whs · · Score: 1

    > 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.

    All right. Now try it with magazines about hobbies. I'm sure the more a guy has an interest in the hobby that magazine is about, the slower/less accurate they will be in a test about other things afterwards. I.e., this is just a test about preoccupation about some interest. Women are hardwired into most men's brains, so that almost always works. Also, isn't beauty largely about certain symmetries? I had a discussion about this a while back in relation to something else I won't go into, and in which I assumed that seeing someone beautiful takes more brain power (because your brain is trying to find asymmetries, quick with someone not so beautiful, takes longer to find the imperfections in more beautiful people). This would explain also in a non-sexual way the more preoccupation a man has with more beautiful women.

    I concur with the poor research statement somebody else made. This is useless 'research'. Then again, just about any research I've seen in such areas, psychology etc. are junk and/or trivial. At least, that's what they look like to me ;-)

    1. Re:Try hobbies... by dargaud · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of ugly symmetric people, and quite a few attractive asymmetric ones, so I'm not sure this argument really flies. It's just one more criterion, like having an unblemished skin, a healthy build, hair, etc, etc...

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
  65. Dual core by TejWC · · Score: 5, Funny

    One time, a group of us guys were at the grocery store buying some beer. I was having a conversation with one of my friends at the checkout counter as I saw a really, really, hot girl. My eyes were attached to her and couldn't let go. I was able to keep up with the conversation despite not looking at my friend.

    He then asked "Are you really paying attention or are you just looking at that hot chick?"
    I replied, "No, I'm paying attention. I'm like a dual-core processor. One is for our conversation and the other is right now on the girl"
    Then my other friend said, "I am dual-core as well. But both cores are hung on that girl. "

    1. Re:Dual core by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What kind of faggots are you? There's some fine poontang walking about, and you're thinking of dual-core CPUs? What the fuck?

    2. Re:Dual core by Anonymous Coward · · 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.

    3. Re:Dual core by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      I saw a really, really, hot girl. My eyes were attached to her and couldn't let go. I was able to keep up with the conversation despite not looking at my friend.

      Your friend's response was a subtle way of saying "you're doing it wrong".

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    4. Re:Dual core by bar-agent · · Score: 1

      Core 1:
      Hot -> cooling -> overclocked -> CPUs -> dual-core -> "the twins" -> twins -> drool

      Core 2:
      Hot -> grits -> Natalie Portman -> pants -> tight pants -> brown round firm -> drool

      --
      i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
    5. Re:Dual core by Optimus6128 · · Score: 1

      Haha, I had a great laugh in this one! I wish I knew how these mod points things work out so that I could give some :P

      Me and my computer graphics geek friends spent a lot of times looking at girls and joking how we admire her smooth phong shaded curves or how naturally moving the boobs physics routines work.

      --
      The "H-Word" has died for me.
  66. That explains it... by tompaulco · · Score: 1

    All my coworkers must be bisexuals with low standards.

    --
    If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
  67. It's true, by waveformwafflehouse · · Score: 1

    Ignorance is bliss.

  68. The good news: Works on women too! by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

    And even better: "Attractive" does not necessarily mean "good looking". It means being something interesting and exciting, like some sparkling stuff. And then catching them with the "bubble of love" that they can't exit, where they even forget that their friends ever existed. ;))

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    1. Re:The good news: Works on women too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And even better: "Attractive" does not necessarily mean "good looking". It means being something interesting and exciting, like some sparkling stuff.

      (emphasis added by AC)

      Attention: Twilight is romantic fiction. It's like Heinlein's juvenile novels were for us greybeards, but for 21st-century young women. But it's still fiction.

      (Oh, and if you're so inclined, bring it. I stopped worrying about being attractive - because I made peace with the fact that I wasn't - a decade ago. Everyone asks me why I don't date, and I tell 'em the truth: deep down inside, I'm a douchebag with no social skills, who'd rather tinker with computers than deal with relationships. The difference between me and most other such self-professed douchebags is that compared to when I was in a relationship I'm happier this way.

      Long story short, if you've still got enough soul left to use the word "sparkle", well, like the XKCD toon says, bring it. The place could use some lulz. :)

  69. Furthermore... by WSOGMM · · Score: 1

    A followup study shows that the smarter the male is, the more impaired his brain function becomes when conversing with an attractive woman. The researches recruited 40 slashdotters and 40 normal males; the results indicated that the slashdotter group would more often than not confuse simple words and meanings with organs on the female body. While researches are still speculating, they believe this may be due to the average slashdotter's lack of experience.

  70. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    locational, we call the cars beamers.

  71. Re:There got to be an App for that... by trum4n · · Score: 1

    BMW is one of the most reliable bikes on the planet, second to Royal Enfield. From what i can tell, you insult harley and bmw because you cant afford either. That or you owned an AMC harley, and that doesn't count. They just sucked.

  72. Re:Another "They had to research this?" waste of m by tompaulco · · Score: 1

    Can we now see the correlation between a woman's breast size and a man's I.Q.?
    I guess big breasts are all the rage, but frankly, I don't see the need for anything bigger than a B. I guess evolution has led us to believe that a woman with larger breasts is more capable of feeding babies, but with our modern diets, that is not really an issue, and since many bottle feed anyway, it is even less. Sure they're fun to play with, but I don't really want a woman with too much breast.

    --
    If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
  73. Selecting for stupidity. by w0mprat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Could women possibly misinterperate general lower mental function as being a response to their attractivness rather than the fact the guy is a stupid jerk, thus overestimating the intellegence of a potential mate, explaining finally why all the dumb a-holes out there get the hot girls before we do?

    --
    After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
    1. Re:Selecting for stupidity. by zaydana · · Score: 1

      Perhaps, the fact that you consider them dumb a-holes and are rather unapologetic about it may contribute. Arrogance usually isn't all that attractive.

    2. Re:Selecting for stupidity. by gr8dude · · Score: 1

      Interesting idea, but I think this isn't so. This experiment doesn't say that "men with greater intelligence get more stupid around a beautiful woman and less intelligent men get less stupid]", it merely says "men are less intelligent when around a beautiful woman".

      Therefore, a woman can only see that a man acts dumb, but she has insufficient information to determine what his actual level of intelligence is.

    3. Re:Selecting for stupidity. by drdrgivemethenews · · Score: 1

      There's something to this. I have known some beautiful women who definitely require a debonair hint of slobber on the face of their males.

  74. Basic scientific FALLACY, yes! by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but this whole song stems from the basic socially conditioned fallacy that you would have less value than that "pretty girl".
    I ask you to *completely forgot that*. You are on the very same level as that pretty girl!

    Were you ever to a place, where there were so many pretty girls that you your eyes popped out, and your jaw dropped onto the floor?
    Did you notice, that after some time, they just become normal? Like "Oh, she's ok, but not *that* great.".
    That's all there is to it: It's just conditioning!

    And this is why, when you just assume equal value, you can make the prettiest girl want *you*! Who do you think she will want to talk to: The thousand guys who beg her to just look at them, or the one guy who is just normal to her? (She will think that you are just used to such pretty girls. And for a reason. ^^)

    Conclusion: I will marry a pretty girl! Because I'm just as pretty! Period. :)

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
  75. Re:There got to be an App for that... by mjwx · · Score: 2, Informative

    A BMW car is a "Bimmer" and a BMW motorcycle is a "Beemer". Now you know.

    Localisations, here in AU they are all called Beamers or Beemers as no-one owns a BMW motorcycle here.

    Nothing against Beemer bikes mind you, they are just too expensive compared to American and Japanese cycles.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  76. I dunno if you can download by Voyager529 · · Score: 2, Funny

    but I'm sure you can find it on 8-track.

  77. An Educated Answer? by br4nd0nh3at · · Score: 0

    Kill all beautiful women! Oh wait does that count?

  78. New Pickup Line by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Duh.

  79. stupid*er* by mizerai · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe beautiful women just make the stupid psychological tests seem less important by comparison.

    --

    --Mizerai

    1. Re:stupid*er* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Beautiful women are like EMP's , they can render the the most logical brain into a complete idiot
      - Atif

  80. Re:There got to be an App for that... by jaxtherat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I must say, I'm a big fan of the Royal Enfields. Any bike that can be repaired by an illiterate indian village blacksmith using nothing but a hammer and a hacksaw is +1 win in my books.

    There was a cool Enfield trick that we learned last time we were in India; if you can't start your bike on a cold dewy morning, just take out the spark plug, pour a little bit of petrol into the chamber, put spark plug back in, and bang, it starts first kick :)

    The guy who taught it to us used the same trick in the Israeli Defence Force to start tanks in the desert.

    --
    http://www.zombieapocalypse.tv/
  81. More info for these researchers by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey guys,

    You might want to study whether the sun is bright or if the sky is blue.

    FWIW I'm not sure that it's always "if you're trying to impress them" or even due to sexual urges - I know there have been times when I've been introduced to some exceptionally attractive woman, and it's like my mind has just shut off (and no, I don't mean that something else has switched on!). It's as if she has this thought dampening field and I'm stuck in it, just based on proximity and the fact that she's paying some level of attention to me.

    But of course that's never happened since I've been married, because I don't even notice other women... right honey?

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:More info for these researchers by frecky · · Score: 1

      You know that sky is blue because it's the reflection of water on earth? Don't you ?

    2. Re:More info for these researchers by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

      You might want to study whether the sun is bright or if the sky is blue.

      Umm... scientists *have* studied those things. Hell, the fact that the sky is blue only makes sense if you understand something about optics, refraction, and so forth, not to mention the composition of the earth's atmosphere. And the fact that the sun is "bright" is something solar scientists, astronomers, and nuclear physicists have been studying since those fields were invented.

      In short: Just because you consider something "common sense" doesn't mean it's silly to study. Quite the opposite, in fact.

    3. Re:More info for these researchers by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

      Uh. Not even close. :)

      The sky is blue because the gases and particles in the atmosphere scatter blue light more effectively than other wavelengths. See this NASA page for more details.

    4. Re:More info for these researchers by trouser · · Score: 1

      In layman's terms, the sky appears blue because it is blue.

      --
      Now wash your hands.
    5. Re:More info for these researchers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i had this happen to me countless times. when i talk to a girl most of the time i don't remember her name for sometime.

    6. Re:More info for these researchers by plastbox · · Score: 1

      *WHOOOSH*

    7. Re:More info for these researchers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey guys,

      You might want to study whether the sun is bright or if the sky is blue.

      Will there be hot chicks at these studys?

  82. It Cuts Both Ways by mindbrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    Both genders are equally susceptible to the effects of hormones overriding their more rational thought processes. Our limbic system, (limbic I've recently been told is now a deprecated term to describe to describe our motivational systems) flush our more rational processes. What has become more apparent is that our wet core is necessary to our rational decision making no matter how we might like it to be otherwise. Women are just as hormonally driven as men and the study, perhaps unintentionally, perpetuates gender stereotyping and myth making that suggests the horned, male ego is pushing the agenda. It's a mark of cultivation and high intelligence that our libido can't cloud our objectivity. The female psyche may not be the eternal mystery to men that our mythology suggests although there are deep distinctive traits. I've been married and, if you count co-habitations as periods of 6 months or longer, then I've lived with 7 women. Although women, as a (stereo) type, might not count 6 months as a long term cohabitation and might just see it as typical of the male willingness to say anything and do anything just to get laid 2 or 3 times a day. In my experience, if emotions engendered by attractive, potential sex partners can inhibit our higher reasoning faculty, then emotions and drugs are devastating. Personally I've found the drunker I get the more attractive women find me. This effect is more pronounced if I'm alone on a bar stool and two or more attractive women are near by. Inevitably, as I nurse one drink after another, and glance their way, sooner or later, one or more return my interested looks and an uncontrolled giggle will escape. That's when I know they're attracted to me. Of course that kind of attention from beautiful women is unsettling and I usually down a few more quick drinks just to put things in perspective. It's then they can't seem to stop staring at me, and, just about then, the giggling stops and things get serious. I'm pretty sure their upset looks reflect a conflict among them as to which one will leave with me. Although I've never been able to verify my guess because about then one or all of them will ask the bartender to see me out. I take this as a consensus on their part that if one of them can't have me then, in the name of friendship, they'll jointly and severally forego my company. I usually leave peacefully not wanting to destroy any close friendships.

    --
    ideopath @ play
    1. Re:It Cuts Both Ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      lthough I've never been able to verify my guess because about then one or all of them will ask the bartender to see me out. I take this as a consensus on their part that if one of them can't have me then, in the name of friendship, they'll jointly and severally forego my company. I usually leave peacefully not wanting to destroy any close friendships.

      I'd give my left nut for a mod point right now. Except that nobody here is interested in my left nut.

      /or my right one
      //let alone anyone with mod points.
      ///even though I'm in a bar at closing time.
      ////probably has something to do with the fact that I'm reading /. on a netbook, doesn't it? :)

      Now Playing: Sheryl Crow, A Change (Would Do You Good)

    2. Re:It Cuts Both Ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Although I've never been able to verify my guess because about then one or all of them will ask the bartender to see me out. I take this as a consensus on their part that if one of them can't have me then, in the name of friendship, they'll jointly and severally forego my company. I usually leave peacefully not wanting to destroy any close friendships.

      WTF?

    3. Re:It Cuts Both Ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and do anything just to get laid 2 or 3 times a day.

      I call BS.

      1 Dick Hertz (DHz) = # of Sex/Day
      if DHz > 2 other extended periods of time, it gets literal (also on the other side).

  83. Braiins... by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1

    It would be interesting to get an MRI and see exactly what part of the brain is active at that time. Most likely the Preoptic Area of the Hypothalamus which is twice as large in men than in women. Also I remember reading somewhere that the way the male brain is able to perform better on focused tasks is by switching off the parts of it not related to what it is currently doing. This could be the explanation.

  84. dfs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    1. Re:dfs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

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  85. I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by siriuskase · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I go to lots of conferences where supposedly there are lots of brilliant men. But, when I meet them, they are just as stupid as the rest of the guys.

    --
    If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
    1. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Zarf · · Score: 1

      I go to lots of conferences where supposedly there are lots of brilliant men. But, when I meet them, they are just as stupid as the rest of the guys.

      So what you're saying is when a woman says "men are stupid" they are really saying "I'm effing hot!"

      --
      [signature]
    2. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1

      I've had the same experience, but that's usually only when I'm having an arrogant day where my patience for humanity is at a low point. --For the record, during such times I find most women are slow to stopped-dead as well. That goes double for the cute ones. Sad but true.

      The rarity is the pretty girl who is also brilliant, but she's usually got so many defenses up that you can't have a decent conversation with her regardless. The older I get, the more I think that physical beauty is over-rated. People should go to conferences blind-folded if they really want to 'see' others.

      -FL

    3. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by siriuskase · · Score: 1

      Hey, you aren't so dumb after all. But, then again, you can't see me, so you are able to reply using your full intellect. How manly IQ points does a typical man lose in the presence of an attractive female anyway?

      --
      If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
    4. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by siriuskase · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, I quite being a girl years ago. But, I still consider myself attractive. At least I'm not fat and bald like a lotta (male) people my age.

      --
      If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
    5. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you a Hot Chick? This may explain things.

    6. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by invalid_user · · Score: 1

      It depends on which conference you went to. There are lots of conferences these day that publishes trivial papers -- not because they want to, but because:

      Reason 1. Schools have run out of money => They need graduate students for cash => There are not many bright people => Less competent people go into graduate school => In order for them to graduate they need to publish 5 to 6 papers => Competition gets hot => Conferences where people can publish easily while the organizers make money, are created, to cater to every kind of discipline.

      Reason 2. Researchers are judged by their ability in getting grants to fight for tenure/full professorship => Researchers apply for more grants, and occasionally more than what they can handle are granted => To partially answer to the received grant publications are needed => ...

    7. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by siriuskase · · Score: 1, Funny

      Can't be, only fat bald guys who live in mummy's basement are aloud here. Why would a hot chick wanna hang with them?

      --
      If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
    8. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      As a guy who is "very married" and who has the uncanny ability to illicit tears, disgust, and offense from the most beautiful women almost at whim (actually, it's usually an effort not to), I'd suspect somewhere in the 20-point range.

      I should also note that extremely hideous (usually overweight and under-dressed) women seem to have a somewhat opposite, if mixed, effect. I'd say it's a 75/25 split between "my brain hurts and must be refreshed" and the ability to come up with some of the most astounding insults ever heard.

      My personal inclination is to eye attractive women suspiciously and distrustfully. If it's just something like seeing them walking down the street, then yes, I get stupid. But if there's any sort of interaction required, my guard goes up and I'm instantly suspicious (at least until familiarity is established).

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    9. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Engeekneer · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, I quite being a girl years ago. But, I still consider myself attractive.

      Uhm, you quite being a girl? So you're somewhere between genders? You know, this might actually be the reason you make men uncomfortable and stupid. Not that I condemn this in any way, to each their own :)

    10. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, I quite being a girl years ago. But, I still consider myself attractive. At least I'm not fat and bald like a lotta (male) people my age.

      I know several Yoga teachers, and one of them is a positively plain looking creature in her late forties. But she glows and moves around town like some sort of Hindu goddess. Awesome. It's all about the soul in the end. --I find that happiness, confidence and a clean mental machine really are the things which make people beautiful. Took a couple of decades to figure that one out. I can't be around angry/sad/fractured personalities for very long no matter what they 'look' like.

      -FL

    11. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "i wanna tell the world i am pretty, the article implies that men are stupid around pretty women, therefore if all men i meet are stupid, then i must be pretty, right?"
      maybe they are just pretending to be stupid to avoid getting involved with someone who makes generalizations like the one you just made.

    12. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by dargaud · · Score: 1

      Indeed it would be interesting to know if beautiful women think that most men are dumb, vs ordinary/ugly ones. Or see if their opinion evolves as they age.

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    13. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Zarf · · Score: 1

      As a guy who is "very married" and who has the uncanny ability to illicit tears, disgust, and offense from the most beautiful women almost at whim

      Actually, I'll attest to this. I'm happily married and I found that I lost all the fear I used to have talking to attractive women who are not my wife.

      Also, it's like the ring has these super powers... I immediately cloak to attractive young women.

      --
      [signature]
    14. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The word you wanted was "allowed" not "aloud", and you forgot "pedantic" in your list of adjectives.:p

    15. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      You cloak to them? I found I've become a bigger target.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    16. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, I'll attest to this. I'm happily married and I found that I lost all the fear I used to have talking to attractive women who are not my wife.

      I've got bad news. It returns when you are single again.

    17. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Zarf · · Score: 1

      Try twisting your ring the other direction.

      --
      [signature]
    18. Re:I always wondered why I meet so many stupid men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a martyr.

  86. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Wow, you're just another idiot who knows nothing about cars.

    For alot of people, it might be about brand. For me, it's about performance. It's about comfort. It's about everything else. I own a Ford Mustang, but lust after 08+ BMW M3's. It's what I wish I could drive if I could afford it. And honestly, I would be on the fence about purchasing one if I COULD afford it, because of typical ignorant car-illiterates who will label me as a poser or as anyone who gives two shits about brand. It's a damn shame. If I could buy a BMW M-series rebadged as a Ford or Hyundai for another $5000 premium, I'd buy it any day.

  87. "Men" by superdana · · Score: 0, Troll

    I object to the suggestion that only men (and all men, at that) are attracted to women.

    1. Re:"Men" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No such suggestion was made. Did you read even the summary?

    2. Re:"Men" by superdana · · Score: 0, Troll

      Of course I read the summary. Don't be stupid. The article is not about men. It is about men who are attracted to women. There is an underlying heterosexual assumption.

    3. Re:"Men" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the suggestion that only men are attracted to women

      You're imagining it. It never suggested that.

      the suggestion that all men are attracted to women

      Yeah, it definitely suggested that. FTA: "To see if other men were affected in the same way, they recruited 40 male heterosexual students." Apparently homosexual males are not men.

  88. And up next... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... the sun rises in the east and the Pope is Catholic.

  89. ...and this is newswothy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have these reporters never been to or heard of a strip club? Isn't this the business plan?

  90. impress you say eh? by bronney · · Score: 1

    trying to impress beautiful women, they have little left for other tasks.
    .
    Let's just say my brain function wasn't used to impress her. More like my visual cortex was occupied from 40% normal usage to 90%.

  91. Works on Women Too! by plastick · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is the same the other way around as well. Women will do crazy things when attracted to a male (i.e. put foil in my microwave or fall down when getting out of the car).

    1. Re:Works on Women Too! by Barsteward · · Score: 5, Funny

      fall down when getting out of the car

      thats due to the alcohol content required to get her into your car

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
  92. Bragging. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clearly this study was made for the sole purpose of that scientist saying "that he could not remember his address when she asked him where he lived" on the internet. Like, an attractive woman would ever ask a scientist where he lives? Nonsense.

  93. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 1

    Not quite true - I've seen a fair few BMWs in Canberra. My brother even owned one for a while (until his girlfriend). I said he should have dropped her in return. Alas, he married her instead, sold his bikes and now works a job he hates to pay for her.

    --
    Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
    altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
  94. Excuse by pilkch · · Score: 1

    See honey, that is why I don't do any house work!

  95. Just wait a few (dozen?) year by aepervius · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you wait a few year , time will catch you, and men will start to be more and more intellectual beast. That is until they start to speak to your attractive daughter.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:Just wait a few (dozen?) year by siriuskase · · Score: 1

      Alas, I only have sons. But, they are attractive, too. Does that mean that their girlfriends only seem stupid?

      --
      If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
  96. It's Obvious by flajann · · Score: 1

    They were all thinking with the wrong head.

    1. Re:It's Obvious by Jimmy_Slimmy · · Score: 1

      Yes!

      The way I first heard this, is that men have two heads, but only enough blood for using one.

  97. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 1

    Royal Enfield isn't "reliable" so much as "utterly unchanged". They haven't dusted that marque since the British left India.

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  98. Re:There got to be an App for that... by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yeah, what was the car ad in that old Dudley Moore movie "Jaguar-for men who want handjobs from strange women" or something like that? Anyway I bet the reason this is is because we guys are too busy trying not to trip over our own feet and trying not look like a doofus to have any braincells left over for complex apps.

    I know that when I first met my GF trying to talk her through a PC problem was an exercise in futility, as i just didn't have enough spare brain capacity to not trip over my own tongue PLUS keep the steps to fix the problem in my head PLUS translate tech speak into a language that she could understand. Now that we have been going out for awhile I don't have that problem anymore, except for her telling me occasionally "translation Mr Spock, because I don't think that last bit was actually English". Girls don't have that problem because they have more choices. Like that old joke "All girls are psychic because they know before the date even starts whether or not you are gonna get laid". The finer the girl, the more picky she can be, therefor the more laid back she can be when dealing with us.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  99. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Golddess · · Score: 1

    I'd think it'd make a huge difference, especially for the attractive lady in the passenger side seat.

    --
    "I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
  100. Hilarious! by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1

    Although I've never been able to verify my guess because about then one or all of them will ask the bartender to see me out. I take this as a consensus on their part that if one of them can't have me then, in the name of friendship, they'll jointly and severally forego my company. I usually leave peacefully not wanting to destroy any close friendships.

    Reminds me of this football dude I once knew who, stoned on LSD at a party and having achieved a high state of paranoia, picked up the host by his collar, slammed him against a wall and bellowed at him, "I bet you've got hidden cameras trying to film me while I take a piss! You sick fuck!" --Then while telling this story, he turned to me and added, "And when I said that, I could tell he was SCARED. That's how I knew I was right about the cameras!"

    Priceless!

    -FL

  101. We need more PhDs by ub3r+n3u7r4l1st · · Score: 1

    That is why there is funding for study like this... keep more PhD students.

  102. So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by interactive_civilian · · 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.

    --
    "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
    1. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by ergean · · Score: 1

      "heavier object would fall faster than a lighter object"

      Are you sure about that? All objects fall at the same speed... the only change in speed is from air resistance.

    2. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by Wintergr33n · · Score: 1

      Err... I think you missed the context of this one. He's probably referring to the fact that people (from Aristotle) assumed that it was obvious heavier objects would fall proportionately faster than lighter ones until someone actually did it - cf Galileo's famous experiment on the tower of Pisa. This point that 'obvious' facts are only obvious until someone actual bothers to go and look is well-made imo.

    3. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by Saysys · · Score: 1

      That was the only one of the litany that you thought wasn't "obvious and true"?

    4. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by ergean · · Score: 1

      Yup missed the context, probably it was from a good looking woman passing by. :))

    5. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... whoosh?

    6. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by Yamata+no+Orochi · · Score: 0

      It's fun that you were okay with all the other "obvious" examples, though.

    7. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A further point is that quantization of these things is significant ... while it's obvious say that gravity exists when something falls to the floor, that doesn't mean it's not worth accurately measuring exactly what it is.

    8. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by ergean · · Score: 1

      I know. :))

      Like I was saying above... a good looking woman passed by. :P

    9. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must have a hell of a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, what without exactly knowing if it's actually morning, or if you're really in bed, or if you will find a floor to put your feet on, or if you even exist.

    10. Re:So obvious it MUST be true :-/ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes, and then there are "studies" where attractive women and press releases are involved, I know I read the name of the university, not bad for 3 days work.

  103. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 3, Funny

    There got be an iPhone app for that! Wait, actually I had started to spec one...

    That is a tremendously appropriate response for a geek. But as a rule, we must observe genuine girl-people in the wild if we are to trust our data. They're similar to people, but they're generally softer, shaped differently and their heads are rather oddly wired. Image resolution is actually much better with a non virtual contact.

    (Please, oh FSM, please do not let this fall into the hands of my wife and daughters...)

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  104. All in the name of science... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The psych students who came up with the idea for this study are fricking geniuses :-)

  105. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 1

    I've seen a fair few BMWs in Canberra

    Not amongst the upper echelon, surely! A non-Australian product in the hands of the pollies? That's as disgraceful as an "I don't know" during Question Time.

    Of course few of us actually admit that Holden is really based in Detroit, or Ford in Dearborn across the pond, or that the Epica is a Daewoo, or...

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  106. Re:There got to be an App for that... by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1

    I like your mention of Royal Enfield. I used to have a 1928 "thumper" many years ago (among many other British classics), and I would still take one over a Harley any day. Lucky they're still being manufactured (in India now) - I guess they must have pretty much the longest pedigree (almost 120 years) of any motorcycle by now...

  107. This isn't good news for everyone by t-twisted · · Score: 1

    I'm suddenly sad men everywhere have intelligent conversations with me...

    1. Re:This isn't good news for everyone by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Hey babe, buy you a beer? ;)

  108. Re:There got to be an App for that... by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1

    Alas, he married her instead, sold his bikes and now works a job he hates to pay for her.

    Shit, I hate these sad stories, they always make me cry. ;-)

  109. Re:There got to be an App for that... by BrokenHalo · · Score: 3, Funny

    A lot less than for an app which makes me look like Brad Pitt in front of attractive women.

    Yes, but you could argue that he's pretty stupid too. After all, remember that he called his daughter Shiloh.

    Shiloh Pitt. Well, hello? (headsmack)

  110. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Albinoman · · Score: 1

    It's probably because I come from a blue collar family and have always had that kind of job. But, most of the Harley owners that you see riding around aren't dentists or accountants. I doubt most of them could handle much of the Sturgis crowd.

  111. Corollary... by jcr · · Score: 1

    I've seen many cases of women behaving like complete idiots when in the presence of a complete lout.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  112. Re:There got to be an App for that... by kheldan · · Score: 1

    Obvious AC hasn't ever taken a BMW motorcycle out for a ride before. :D

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  113. This is by design. by MrCrassic · · Score: 1

    I didn't read the article (of course), but this is understandable, considering how geishas in Japan are designed to illicit this effect, and is the main reason why (hot) women work well as accomplices/ploys in a crime.

  114. Look into her eyes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not give the memory test during the chatting session to see what happens to cognitive function then?

    I'm not sure about the cognitive function, but it sure would be a conversation killer!

    Personally I doubt the deficit is caused by the stress of trying to impress. Speaking as a man, the effect of seeing a "stunning" woman (whether or not I'm going to make any effort to impress her), is not dissimilar to how I feel when entering a light hypnotic trance. I'm sure stunning women could (and indeed do) 'utilize' (in the technical hypno-therapeutic sense) this state.

    I'd be interested to see studies investigating increased male suggestibility in these situations.

  115. Re:There got to be an App for that... by smellsofbikes · · Score: 2, Informative
    For the record, that's how I've always started my rototiller and mower (both old and miserable.) I thought it was a pretty well-known trick.

    Here's another trick that's a little weirder. When you're adjusting the mixture, instead of trying to listen to the engine RPM, look at the exhaust. More to the point, look at the shadow of the exhaust in bright sunlight. It's way, *way* more sensitive. Adjust it until you can't see opacity -- you can barely see the exhaust's shadow, at which point you're a little lean, so give it just a bit more fuel. You'll be fairly close to best power. (Not best fuel consumption, though.)

    --
    Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
  116. That's what putdowns are for. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is why the "player" books and web sites stress the necessity of putting down beautiful women and getting them a little off balance. Don't flatter them.

    This only works with very good looking women who are used to being flattered. It angers the ones that aren't 9s and 10s.

  117. recursion by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

    Smarter no, just having an iphone should negate the effect of that app.

    What I need to do is look richer

    I have an idea - carry around an iphone!

    1. Re:recursion by mjwx · · Score: 1

      I have an idea - carry around an iphone!

      Worst possible idea,

      The iphone has been favoured by the shallower end of the socio-economic pool here.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  118. Two trans-related anecdotes by Trillian_1138 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    First, kudos for your good job on the terminology. Meanwhile, I know, I know, anecdote != data, but thought two things might be relevant.

    First, the This American Life episode Testosterone. Act Two is about an FTM man, who talks about his experiences on testosterone and how it's changed his views on behavior. Specifically, he describes how difficult he's found it to not ogle women even though he knows how inappropriate and potentially hurtful it can be. Obviously, it's only one trans man, so it's not exactly a scientific study. Likewise, I've heard from some trans men I know that their experiences don't match the This American Life story and they're not thrilled with it being mentioned as a representative experience. (As, I guess, I'm doing right now. Whoops.)

    Second, as a trans woman who is attracted to women, I've had an interesting experience with perceiving other women since I've gone on hormones. (Right now there are a number of /.ers wondering whether they're supposed to be fantasizing about some hot lesbian action or disgusted because one of the women still has a penis...)

    I've heard estrogen described as something which lowers filters, and I think that's a pretty accurate way of putting it. My emotions have been cranked up a notch since going on estrogen. Now, the expected/obvious part of that has been that I cry easier, but the opposite is true as well - I laugh easier. Relate that to sex and sexuality, and I've definitely felt like I've had just as much trouble keeping eye contact now as when I was flooded with testosterone when I was in my early teens.

    I'd be curious as well to see a more broad study comparing responses of different populations: every combination of transsexual and cissexual (that is, not transsexual), straight, bi, and gay. Does a hormonally-female transsexual such as my self have different responses than a cissexual lesbian? Or a straight woman? Or a transsexual man? How do gender identity and sexuality (no to mention hormones) change the effects of focusing on a desirable sex partner?

    -Trillian

    1. Re:Two trans-related anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You've ruined the name "Trillian" for me.

    2. Re:Two trans-related anecdotes by TheTyrannyOfForcedRe · · Score: 0

      If you were born a man you can never be a woman. You can be a castrated man. You can be a man who takes female hormones. You can be both. But you can never be a woman.

      --
      "Liechtenstein is the world's largest producer of sausage casings, potassium storage units, and false teeth."
  119. hot chick = brain using perving skills not languag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I say this is a symptom of our society now where it is 'rude' for a man to look at a woman the way he really wants to. If I am talking to a hot chick, most of my concentration is on controlling the eyes and glances up and down etc so that she doesn't catch me in the act of checking her out, and watching out for the split second when she's distracted and you can get away with a decent glance at her tits. being careful not to let the eyes linger anywhere too long, even though you'd really like to just take a nice long slow look at her face, tits, and the general shape of her body.

    it's fucking hard work.

    this is why the smooth talking guys are the same ones who run their eyes up and down the chicks, and get away with it. They are actually not doing all this hard work. This dumbing down only happens to the poor modern guys.

    And if it's happening _after_ talking to the hottie, it's cos the guy, now that he's finished that strenuous work, is busy imagining how he'd pound that bit of meat if he got a chance.

  120. Oh thank goodness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    for Science and Progress! We learn something "new" every day!

  121. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Water gets you wet.

  122. multiple hot chicks? by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

    Did they use multiple hot women of varied intelligence to see if the relative agitation level of the male subject impacted their test scores? I suspect it might; thus has been my experience.

    --
    ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
  123. Re:There got to be an App for that... by dakameleon · · Score: 1

    Of course few of us actually admit that Holden is really based in Detroit, or Ford in Dearborn across the pond.

    To be fair though, Commodores, Falcons, and the HSV & FPV brethren aren't made outside Australia, despite the fact that many a tourist from the US or the UK admire them quite a lot; we get quite a bit of metal and features for our money, which only partially makes up for the ridiculous prices we pay for most imports.

    --
    Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
  124. Simpler explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This isn't due to the men "using up their cognitive resources." There is a simpler explanation. When the men talk to the woman they find attractive they are still thinking about her for a short while afterwards so their performance on the intelligence test is lower because they are distracted.

  125. Poor attractive women by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So to attractive women all mens are dumb... what a harsh world to them

  126. Stay smart by LS · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Guys who are able to maintain their cool and not lose themselves when around hot girls are the ones that can actually land them. If you can figure out how to do this you put yourself on top and demonstrate to women that you are something special, selecting yourself out from the crowd. I highly recommend it.

    --
    There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
  127. Obligatory Dilbert by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

    It's a pleasure to meet me. I hope you never find a live turtle in your soup.

  128. freeballer by freeballer · · Score: 1

    two things come to mind: 1) how do people get money for studies like this? 2) is it the same for lesbians?

    1. Re:freeballer by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      3) Is it the same for straight women talking to hot guys?

    2. Re:freeballer by freeballer · · Score: 1

      I think I can think of at least one or two examples lol

  129. Stupifyin Jones by Baldrson · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Dup story from the '50s.

    See Stupifyin' Jones.

  130. Some researchers learned more than others by Another,+completely · · Score: 1

    The more they fancied them, the worse their score.

    This means the women involved in conducting the study chatted with 40 men who then evaluated how attractive they found the woman they were talking with. I bet there were some interesting talks over coffee after those results were processed.

  131. So this explains why hot chicks... by cyn1c77 · · Score: 1

    ... always date retards!

  132. That's why I turn into a babbling moron. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "My cats breath smells like cat food!"

  133. Re:There got to be an App for that... by jaxtherat · · Score: 1

    When my bike broke down in a village on the border of Maharashtra and Goa, it was repaired by a blacksmith.

    Also, precisely what is wrong with my statement? It boils down to:

    Any (A) that can be repaired by (B) using (C) is excellent.

    So where exactly was the grammatical error Mr. Coward?

    --
    http://www.zombieapocalypse.tv/
  134. Empathic by DeBaas · · Score: 1

    we are just empathic

    --
    ---
  135. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 1

    Yeah, he's insulting harleys because he can't afford one. Not because they're inefficient and amazingly loud at the expense of actually working well. People buy a harley because they have a small penis and need the amazingly loud and annoying noise of their shitty engines to drown out this reality.

    --
    -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
  136. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 1

    Yes, they should immediately start changing what ain't broke. If they're reliable then why on earth should they change?

    --
    -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
  137. chatting to male or female members of the research by l3v1 · · Score: 1

    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

    Wow, that's gotta be some team :)

    --
    I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
  138. No Sh*t?! by Anyd · · Score: 1

    My colleagues and I are currently working on our PHDs in "No Shit." Our studies not only include the one mentioned in TFA but also such ground-breaking work such as "Fire Bad," "Women Good," and the crown jewel of them all; "The Logic and Method to Capturing Ants, Specifically Using Young Growth From Deciduous Trees."

    Can I have some grant money please?

  139. So what we really want to see... by patch0 · · Score: 1

    ...are pictures of the women they were chatting to that made their brains stop working properly.

  140. Well yeah by Zero_Independent · · Score: 0, Funny

    Whenever you hang around people of inferior intelligence, your brain kind of shuts off.

  141. What makes a woman stupid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nothing .... in particular !

  142. Kindness? by StackedCrooked · · Score: 1

    From the article: >'But a woman also looks for signs of other attributes, such as wealth, youth and kindness.' Wealth and youth, ok. But I wasn't aware that kindness belongs to that list...

    1. Re:Kindness? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From the article:
      >'But a woman also looks for signs of other attributes, such as wealth, youth and kindness.'

      Wealth and youth, ok. But I wasn't aware that kindness belongs to that list...

      I can believe this, it's just "kindess" is a filter that's applied after the others. For example, it stands to reason that out of a room full of rich young men (where all are have similar ages and wealth), most women would be attracted to the kind ones over the jerks. However, a poor old man in the same room wouldn't be considered a potential mate, no matter how kind a person he is.

  143. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    There's a noise that comes from the riduculous concept of having two enormous cylinders and uneven timing, but I'm pretty sure some have their exhausts modded too. There are one or two twats that ride them near me (all night sometimes) and they're louder than a plane taking off.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  144. Coming from a woman (no pun intended!!!) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well duh! Ask any dude who's paid money for a divorce to upgrade to a "better" wife can tell you that! Haha! Jim Clark and Steven Spielberg come to mind. They paid millions to divorce and upgrade to their newer wives. We women know your kryponite! By the way, here's something else that's obvious and doesn't need some study: We women aren't really impressed when you're a guy "friend" and you buy us stuff and show us your nice car, etc. If you start as "the nice guy friend," you'll most likely stay as one. Sorry, but you probably are better off making your own version of Lisa from Weird Science :(
    I think this should be a study: why do we women not date the nice guys but stay with the guys who treat us like crap?? I am a woman and I STILL can't figure it out. Maybe you nerdy slashdot guys can figure it out for me!

  145. I have found it works both ways by Shivetya · · Score: 1

    While pretty woman affect men to distraction good looking men can do the same right back, even to the prettiest of women.

    Seems to me the study simply points out, we are distracted by things we find pleasing.

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
    1. Re:I have found it works both ways by Beezlebub33 · · Score: 4, Funny

      So, what you are saying is that the comparable test for women would be to do the test in a Coach bag store?

      --
      The more people I meet, the better I like my dog.
    2. Re:I have found it works both ways by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      Whereas in their study they didn't find a performance difference in the women at all.

      Of course maybe all the men they had them talk to were ugly...

    3. Re:I have found it works both ways by dwye · · Score: 1

      Or not displaying the size of that important bulge in their pants.

      I mean, their wallets, of course.

    4. Re:I have found it works both ways by aaandre · · Score: 1

      Or not displaying the size of that important bulge in their pants.

      I mean, their wallets, of course.

      I think you are right, women find success and confidence attractive, as we find physical beauty and signs of health attractive. And, I think many women feel frustrated about being objects of beauty and eventually blame men for being superficial, similarly to the irony I sense in your remark.

      Both genders are programmed to seek what's beneficial for successful procreation.

    5. Re:I have found it works both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. Note that women are happy to pay those prices. Q.E.D.

    6. Re:I have found it works both ways by jesset77 · · Score: 1

      Both genders are programmed to seek what's beneficial for successful procreation.

      Granted, but when you remove genetically learned challenges (the hostility of the wild) from our environment, this programmed prerogative only takes us so far towards our socially learned goals. The challenges of procreation have transformed drastically, as well as our ability to game and short circuit these vestigial instincts. Noone wants to live in a world populated by prostitutes and pimps, every adult trying to bedazzle and con members of the opposite gender with fake boobs and fake gold — and such behavior no longer benefits of our lineages.

      Thus we chide against the effects of this instinct with snarky comments and disdain, and our society does it's best to memetically as well as genetically alter course towards more constructive relationships.

      --
      People willing to trade their freedom of expression for temporary entertainment deserve neither and will lose both.
    7. Re:I have found it works both ways by NuShrike · · Score: 1

      Well, would be same test as bringing a guy into Fry's Electronics/Yodabashi/Bic Camera too.

    8. Re:I have found it works both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would recommend, yes - put me in a store with lots of fabulous shiny things and my IQ will drop about 40 points. Primal instincts kick in hard. (from a woman)

  146. I'm not stupid.... by XB-70 · · Score: 1

    You've got it all wrong. Men have Quantum RAM. Here's why: Upon seeing a beautiful woman, males switch control systems over to Mr. Happy. Mr. Happy only has a few synapses. Though appearing stupid, when Mr. Happy is 'in charge' and making decisions, they are actually quite an amazing feat for that small amount of computing power. Quantum RAM is the only possible solution. (see article on Quantum RAM: http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/07/08/22/1255236/New-Idea-Could-Lead-to-Quantum-RAM?art_pos=4 )

    --
    *** Don't be dull.***
  147. There's a trick to it by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 1

    Icepacks in the right places...

    Make sure you replace them before they start to melt though, otherwise they will have the inverse effect.

    --

    People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
  148. Re:Another "They had to research this?" waste of m by plastbox · · Score: 1

    Not to mention, a woman with perky B's will still have perky B's 10 years from now. A 20 year old chick with D's will likely have her navel between her tits by that time, and likely looks far less good without a bra than with one already. =P

  149. Maybe needs more thought... by Archtech · · Score: 1

    "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".

    I bet that impressed her.

    --
    I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
  150. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok, ms Playboy. Thank you for letting us know how you and your friends refer to them.

  151. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no such problem since my GF is a GIF.

  152. Seriously... by Ian-K · · Score: 1

    Did they discover this just now???

    Gee...

    --
    I'm no longer fed up with MS Windows: I go rid of them :)
  153. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    I don't know much about a BMW - but Harley? Please..... Overhyped outdated bullshit technology. It's a shame that all the rest of the bike manufacturers have switched over to building that stupid V-twin. I rode KZ's all through the '80's. On one bike, I rode 25,000 miles in two years, with one breakdown. The coil gave out. You're simply not going to find many Harley Davidson bikes with that kind of mileage and that kind of record.

    And, like a couple other posters have pointed out: half or more of the HD bikes in this country are owned by accountants, dentists, and other professionals who use the damned things like "cafe racers". Change out of a suit, into the leather costume, ease the old hawg down close to the bar, then make a lot of noise coming into the parking lot so that everyone sees you. Wow, what a rush! Talk about macho!! After visiting two or three bars, the bike goes back into the garage, where it gets another unneeded coat of polish, just to sit until the owner feel the need to prove his manhood again.

    Give me a KZ 900. It isn't very loud - well, most of the time - but that thing will carry you coast to coast comfortably and reliably. If you just HAVE to hear the thunder, crank the throttle, and listen to the sound of REAL power!

    Harley? Phhht. If someone were to give me one, for free, I would just trade it in on something else. A stripped down Harley costs about twice as much as a full dressed anything else!!

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  154. Like, Duh by Ferretman · · Score: 1

    I don't really think this is news.....

    --
    Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
  155. Well Duh, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    sorry, that cute girl from the other office walked by

  156. Re:There got to be an App for that... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    Photoshop.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  157. Re:There got to be an App for that... by cjb658 · · Score: 1

    When girls "find out" I'm smart, they must think I'm boring or uncool because they instantly move away from me.

    I've already discovered an app that makes me dumber: alcohol.

  158. Eternal Joke by lalder · · Score: 1

    Two heads and only enough blood to run 1 at a time! .... Were we talking?

  159. Nerves of Jello by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    never send a boy to do a mans job.

  160. Are you trying to seduce me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The test may have a hidden variable. As I read that the subjects were asked their addresses, I thought, "They're stupefied because they are trying to gauge whether she is asking to come home with them." Why else would she be asking for their home addresses?

  161. Re:There got to be an App for that... by geminidomino · · Score: 1

    Any (A) that can be repaired by (B) using (C) is excellent.

    So where exactly was the grammatical error Mr. Coward?

    I think his (poorly made) point was one of ambiguity rather than grammar. What you said could be parsed a couple of ways...

    "So easy, even 'an illiterate indian village blacksmith using nothing but a hammer and a hacksaw' can fix it"

    or

    "Requires 'an illiterate indian village blacksmith using nothing but a hammer and a hacksaw' to fix"

  162. Current Slashdot fortune by dmleach · · Score: 1

    "Extreme feminine beauty is always disturbing. -- Spock, "The Cloud Minders", stardate 5818.4"

    1. Re:Current Slashdot fortune by ChefInnocent · · Score: 1

      I got a chuckle out of that too.

  163. Re:There got to be an App for that... by PJOttawa · · Score: 1

    The Dudley Moore movie was "Crazy People" with Daryl Hannah. And remember: SONY ... because caucasians are just too damn tall. But getting back to the main point. Isn't this one of the main subplots of all primetime sitcons of the past 50 years?

  164. No you don't see it all the time. by Anonymous Coward · · 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.

  165. Re:Should have used lesbians and gay men as contro by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    Agreed. Is this something that's peculiar to men? If so, I'd expect gay men to exhibit similar results after talking with an attractive man.

    Or is it women's physical appeal that does the trick – in which case straight men and lesbians might be similarly affected.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  166. Re:Another "They had to research this?" waste of m by Doctor+Faustus · · Score: 1

    Not to mention, a woman with perky B's will still have perky B's 10 years from now.
    Unless she goes from a low B to a high C for a year or two when she has a kid, and then goes back down. That does bad things.

    Good thing I'm more of a leg man.

  167. The wrong question to forget the answer to! by Faizdog · · Score: 1

    My only comment is:
    Poor guy; the one question I don't want to forget the answer to is when an attractive woman asks where I live.

    --
    -"Those who fought today will die tommorow."-
  168. Re:There got to be an App for that... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    His (poorly made) point was a result of confusing the meaning of the word "can" with the meaning of the words "has to".

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  169. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you have an iPhone, you don't find any women attractive.

  170. lousy conclusion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It seems more plausible that the higher-level functions that were used to measure "stupidity" were superseded by lower-level / more primal functions of the brain that say "let's shoot dna at each other" . . . oi.

  171. I wonder if ... by Martin+Spamer · · Score: 1

    The results would change if the subject knew the result would be shared with the attractive woman ?

    The flip side of this research is how many women recognise that the smooth talking player doesn't really fancy them.

  172. Attractive Women Make Men Temporarily Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder how attractive were the women who dreamed up this study? Can you say sensible shoes?

  173. Well, duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just how much did they waste on this test of the supremely obvious?

  174. Re:There got to be an App for that... by geekoid · · Score: 1

    It's called booze and you give it to them.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  175. Legitimacy of the study by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they had all these hot women around, how can we be sure the study was even executed properly or results accurately recorded?

    Unless all the researchers were women and gay men.....

  176. Lost productivity by greywire · · Score: 1

    So, how many billions of dollars are lost every year in lowered productivity due to male workers interacting with attractive co-workers?

    Maybe women (at least the attractive ones) really *shouldn't* be allowed to work! At least, they should be segregated. And its not even because women are inferior.. in fact they are probably superior in this regard so they really can't complain. We need to keep women (the attractive ones) out of the workplace for our own good!

    The women (the attractive ones, of course) should probably stay home where they can realize their full potential without interfering with men's work (and I think you know what I'm saying here.. you know? you know what I am saying? Why am I talking like this?)

    --
    -- Senior Software Engineer, Attorney appearance services, locallawyerapp.com.
  177. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 1

    I really don't think she cares either.

    --
    "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
  178. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A shot of WD-40 to the air intake will do the same thing, with the side benefits of not having to remove the spark plug and not getting petrol all over.

  179. Re:There got to be an App for that... by steelfood · · Score: 1

    they're generally softer

    But their output ranges from loud to abrasive.

    --
    "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  180. Re: a good match for a (reproductive) mate? by An+anonymous+Frank · · Score: 1

    Then why does exactly the same thing happen to me regardless of the gender of the object of my affliction?

    Mind you, I am bisexual, though still, how can my body be thinking that I'll potentially be reproducing anything at all when it's spurred by mingling with another (attractive) male?

  181. "Boys are stupid" tee shirt true then... by bodland · · Score: 1

    Who would of guessed.

  182. Speaking of stupid... by toiletbowl · · Score: 0

    Show of hands who else clicked on the article because they thought they'd show the test woman?

  183. Well, duh!!! by Locke2005 · · Score: 2

    Anybody that has ever been to a strip club could tell you that attractive women make men (and some women too) stupid! In fact, I believe their entire business model is predicated on that phenomenon! Serving them alcohol doesn't make 'em any smarter either.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  184. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Same trick captured Russian solders showed the Nazis on the Eastern front.

  185. Another study, then... by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

    Would it be possible to try this out with people in varying stages of a relationship?

    That is, do we eventually recover by adjusting to the person in question, or are married men who are truly still in love necessarily dumber around their wife?

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  186. Re:There got to be an App for that... by Razalhague · · Score: 1

    the passenger side seat.

    ie. the sidecar.

  187. Re: a good match for a (reproductive) mate? by Taevin · · Score: 1

    Well, your body doesn't "know" anything about reproducing. It just so happens that if a male's sexual response cycle completes while he is inside of a female (which, for heterosexual males, is likely the most satisfying scenario), reproduction can occur. In terms of the sexual response cycle, reproduction is simply a side-effect of something you're already doing. And you're having sex because it feels good and (presumably) you find your partner attractive.

    Attractiveness is a major contributing factor to sexual arousal so that's why it works either way. Sexual arousal/climax is the body's (mind's) goal, offspring is the (potential) consequence.

  188. Now i get it... by csstinderbox · · Score: 1

    That's why I hate attractive people. I just thought i was stupid all the time and blamed it on my own self-loathing. Go figure.

  189. Re:There got to be an App for that... by dbcad7 · · Score: 1

    More important to be smarter, than look smarter.. I've had to reboot my life 3 times because of women.. They all started out as physical attraction, which is an important part of the equation.. but is seriously negated when they turn out to be coo coo for cocoa puffs.. It has led me to ask, do I make women crazy ?, or were they crazy to be with me ? .. To keep on topic, I have no problems talking to any woman regardless of looks, because experience has taught me that they are potentially insane.

    --
    waiting for ad.doubleclick.net
  190. Re:There got to be an App for that... by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

    With the minor side-effect of spontaneous combustion of any residual WD-40 contacting hot engine parts.

    --
    - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  191. Re:There got to be an App for that... by bar-agent · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, advertisers tend to confuse "can" and "has to" as well, thus ruining a good word.

    In fairness, words and phrases like "can," "must," "may," "ought to," etc. are really poorly distinguished anyway. I like those specs that explicitly define them.

    (offtopic, but meh)

    --
    i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
  192. That would rock, a Beowulf cluster, token-ring'd. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All connected in a circle with a token-ring network interconnect..running a Yuri simulation.. plug to socket, in a big circle. huh huh-huh huh-huh-huh, he-he he-he-he he-he, huh huh.

  193. Punchline by BigLonn · · Score: 1

    this needs to be refiled under thank you mister obvious: the cause of this malady is the blood rushing out of the big head to the little head Duh, come on people!

  194. Re:Easier explanation - blonds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The blond rushes from....

    ah, that's better

  195. Re:There got to be an App for that... by jesset77 · · Score: 1

    A lot less than for an app which makes me look like Brad Pitt in front of attractive women. Got one of those?

    I am Brad Pitt, you inglorious bastard!

    --
    People willing to trade their freedom of expression for temporary entertainment deserve neither and will lose both.
  196. Re:There got to be an App for that... by kokoko1 · · Score: 0

    gurls rulez

    --
    http://askaralikhan.blogspot.com/
  197. ASL please by kokoko1 · · Score: 0

    Age, sex, location please if you are female then we could talk more. A hot chick could get hell out of any men, look at Tajmahal in India, one nut created it for women.

    --
    http://askaralikhan.blogspot.com/
  198. Intelligent design by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    God gave man a penis and a brain, but not enough blood to operate them at the same time.

  199. Singer Robbie Williams got there first by PensivePeter · · Score: 1

    "Man is endowed with a brain and a penis and just enough blood to make one function at a time"

  200. Re:Another "They had to research this?" waste of m by plastbox · · Score: 1

    Good thing I'm more of a leg man.

    Yes, because cellulites are almost as hot as when those veins start popping out.

  201. Mixed emotions... by KayakFun · · Score: 1
    I feel embarrased that a dutch university spent time on this obvious fact...

    And proud because the dutch girls are pretty enough to cause this effect, ;-)

    Disclaimer: I'm dutch.

  202. Attractive women make men temporarily stupid by JobyOne · · Score: 1

    In other news: Water wet, sky blue, puppies cute.

    --
    Porquoi?