Sex Boosts Brain Growth

climenole writes "Sex apparently can help the brain grow, according to new findings in rats. Sexually active rodents also seemed less anxious than virgins, Princeton scientists discovered. Past findings had shown that stressful, unpleasant events could stifle brain cell growth in adults. To see if pleasant albeit stressful experiences could have the opposite effect, researchers studied the effects of sex in rats."

Comments

Bullshit

[elrous0]

If that were the case /. would be full of retards and the NBA would be full of geniuses.

I'll believe it when Jon Bon Jovi announces that he's found the Higgs Boson.

Re:Bullshit

[i_ate_god]

it's not bullshit.

Look at how much arguing there is on slashdot, we are all quite stressed...

Re:Bullshit

[gstoddart]

If that were the case /. would be full of retards

Umm, have you been reading it lately? ;-P

Re:Bullshit

[WrongSizeGlass]

it's not bullshit.

Look at how much arguing there is on slashdot, we are all quite stressed...

Says you !

Re:Bullshit

[bsDaemon]

Just because they chose to focus on physical mastery over themselves, then managed to get a sweet gig making millions of dollars doing something fun doesn't make them "morons." Hell, if I could make a mint playing games all day, why would I bother looking for the Higgs Boson?

Besides, consider the following: The major goal in any living being's life is to ensure the survival of his genes. Those who get the most action have the best chance of doing so, which means on a sub-conscious, primal level they're going to have less to worry about. That means they won't be distracted from focusing on what's important to them.

If more nerds got some, maybe we'd have the Higgs Boson on lock already.

Re:Bullshit

[MessedRocker]

Why limit sex strictly to intercourse? Surely there are Slashdotters out there who masturbate frequently.

Re:Bullshit

[Pharmboy]

I think you have to consider the whole picture here: How many people in high school go to college vs. how many make a good living 10 years later? A pretty good percentage. Now, how many people in high school decide they want to be a basketball playing millionaire, and what percentage make it? Inversely, what percentage of each of those groups are now living below the poverty level?

I would venture a guess that there are more millionaires that went to business school than who played professional sports of any kind, so while your comparison is interesting, it isn't really a good analog.

Re:Bullshit

[cayenne8]

Hmm...does the sex have to be with someone else in order to be effective?

If not, that might explain the /. crowd....

Re:Bullshit

[Anonymous Coward]

The major goal in any gene's life is to ensure the survival of his genes.

FTFY

Re:Bullshit

[CatsupBoy]

If that were the case /. would be full of retards and the NBA would be full of geniuses.

I dont get what these two fictionally opposed statements have in common.

Re:Bullshit

[macbeth66]

hmmm...

Make millions playing a kid's game and screw a different blonde, or redhead, every night or live in poverty while chasing the Higgs Boson.

oh, which to choose? Which to choose?

So, who is really smarter? The guy that lived with a basketball growing up, or the guy who lived with that physics text book?

Re:Bullshit

[V!NCENT]

Stressed and axious people are not the typical types that lead. Leaders are more atractive because they are garanteed to protect others from dying in certain dangerous situations.

Evolution theory, bitches.

That doesn't mean that your typical athlete would ever outgrow the brains of who is too stressed to let his/her brain grow that fast.

BTW orgasms where good for about ten thousand brain cells, right? How much brain cells do you think you loose when you bang a soccerball with your head? About the same.

It all means nothing, but it is somewhat a little interesting I guess...

Re:Bullshit

[slick7]

Why limit sex strictly to intercourse? Surely there are Slashdotters out there who masturbate frequently.

You mean the fap factor?

Re:Bullshit

[Kenja]

He found it, he just didn't give a rats ass.

Re:Bullshit

[Pharmboy]

Just remember, every time you masturbate, god kills a kitten.

Re:Bullshit

[shadowrat]

If that were the case /. would be full of retards and the NBA would be full of geniuses.

How do you know it's not that way? Just because the NBA players don't have incentive to study doesn't mean they couldn't be genius level scholars. They could all have powerful brains that would put us all to shame. However brain growth != knowledge. New brain cells typically are useless unless you fill them with something. TFA didn't claim that the rats also studied productive material and began working for the good of science.

Re:Bullshit

[tverbeek]

"If that were the case /. would be full of retards...."

Have you been reading the comments here?

Re:Bullshit

[bsDaemon]

Yes, but let's look at business school types. Your typical MBA probably at least was on a crew team in high school or college. Lacrosse is a good substitute, too. Their undergrad major was probably in a subject where there were lots of girls, so they had more opportunity to get to know women and how to interact with them, thus more chances for breeding.

They then went on to get an MBA, bought a new BMW 'cause the one their dad gave them for their 16th birthday was showing its age, and probably kept on playing squash or basketball at the Harvard Club with their alumni friends. So, now they're in shape and have shiny things to use as bait to attract a mate (the BMW).

The professional athletes skip the MBA step and go straight to the fancy cars and lots of money.

-----

But, back to the text of the article itself, it indicates:
1) that males who merely interacted with females on a more regular basis were less nervous in general than the ones who only got to see a female every 2 weeks.
2) the ones who were sexually active were less risk-adverse, such as more willing to eat food in strange places.

compare this to humans:
1) your typical nerd male who spends all his time in a lab or on a computer and doesn't get out much, doesn't really know what is and is not ok to say to girls in the rare instances where its required to interact with one outside of the context of a checkout clerk at the convenience store.
2) your typical nerd male is going to be harder to talk into doing risky behavior such as hang gliding or whatever, because he'll be too busy worrying about the elevated risk of death, subconsciously due to the fact that he more than likely hasn't reproduced yet, and therefor would lose evolution.

So, the immediate lesson from the study basically boils down to if you have more experience around the opposite sex you're not going to freak out and be awkward, and if you've already passed on your genes then it really doesn't matter what happens to you, from an evolutionary standpoint. The MBA works just as well as the pro athlete.

Besides, if I just wanted to be a dick about it, I could always just pull out Brian May, the guitarist for Queen, who recently finished a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College in London. That's a good counter-argument to the original poster's Bon Jovi jab.

Re:Bullshit

[winkydink]

So having sex with rats will make you smarter? After you, Mousedick.

Re:Bullshit

[the_last_rites]

You're forgetting 'masturbation'.

Re:Bullshit

[graffix01]

Not sure about the link to intelligence but I think you could replace 'rodents' with just about anything in this quote, "Sexually active rodents also seemed less anxious than virgins, Princeton scientists discovered." And I don't think it takes a Princeton educated scientist to figure that one out!

Re:Bullshit

[thetoadwarrior]

Look at a English council estate, they're chock full of stupid people with tons of kids and people sleeping around with each other's partner. There is just too much proof it's not true at least in humans.

Re:Bullshit

[thetoadwarrior]

Having money doesn't make you smart either. You can earn a billion form playing games no one is going to consider you a genius.

Re:Bullshit

[couchslug]

Like a spider monkey on meth, but if that works then I should have passed genius level around 1974.

Re:Bullshit

[celesteh]

Rats don't wank. But slashdotters do. Probably copiously.

Re:Bullshit

[Wyatt Earp]

Hey, just find a geek-girl/boy with a healthy sex drive like I did.

Re:Bullshit

[diskofish]

2) your typical nerd male is going to be harder to talk into doing risky behavior such as hang gliding or whatever, because he'll be too busy worrying about the elevated risk of death

I have to disagree with you on a couple of levels. First, I am a glider pilot (hang gliders), and a high majority of the 100+ members in my club are engineers or technologists of some sort. The skill and depth of knowledge required are very appealing to this type of person.

Having participated in team sports and more "extreme" sports myself, you run into a lot more of the nerdy/dorky type in these areas.

Re:Bullshit

[tomcode]

"If more nerds got some, maybe we'd have the Higgs Boson on lock already."

Hear that ladies? The future of mankind is in your hands! Please?????

Re:Bullshit

[Belial6]

That kind of logic leads to spending 100% of your paycheck on lottery tickets every week.

Re:Bullshit

[Anonymous Coward]

/me checks the 'Post anonymously' checkbox is really clicked.

"1) that males who merely interacted with females on a more regular basis were less nervous in general than the ones who only got to see a female every 2 weeks."

I have noticed that since I switched watching random TV for an hour a day, for watching certain sorts of camgirls, my anxiety has gone way down.

Namely - not solely the ones that are simply girls wiggling for tips, but ones where the atmosphere is more like a moderately active IRC channel, just with a (sometimes) naked girl as one participant, interacting with the others on a wide range of topics.

Sure - interaction in person would be better, and probably more healthy.
But for a number of reasons - disability - poor transport - ... getting out of the house is not easy for me. /me checks post anonymously is still ticked.

Re:Bullshit

[jd]

Says you !

*hits WrongSizeGlass over the head with a virtual beer bottle*

Re:Bullshit

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

If that were the case /. would be full of retards...

You should visit a cell phone thread.

Re:Bullshit

[bsDaemon]

I just picked hang gliding as an example at random. Having been a small plane pilot myself, there is definitely a draw to various forms of powered and un-powered aviation to more technically inclined people. Perhaps I should have used bungee jumping or something instead. However, I still think there is a much higher degree of risk aversion among nerds (not necessarily technical people -- after all, most of the original astronauts had engineering degrees and were military test pilots -- but, you know... the mountain dew moustache and cheetos-fingered d&d tshirt wearing nerd)

Re:Bullshit

[ZorinLynx]

That's funny. I couldn't give a rat's ass if my genes get passed on. However, I do enjoy having a partner for the companionship and love it brings. There's more than one reason to pair up with someone you love; passing on your genes is only one of them.

I get a lot more out of a few hours snuggling in the dark talking with someone I care about than a quick session of mindless sex with someone I just met. Does this make me strange, or does it prove that "passing your genes on" isn't the only factor here? I'd say the latter.

Although I AM pretty strange sometimes. But that has less to do with sex and more to do with normal being boring. ;)

Re:Bullshit

[CrashandDie]

Besides, consider the following: The major goal in any living being's life is to ensure the survival of his genes. Those who get the most action have the best chance of doing so, which means on a sub-conscious, primal level they're going to have less to worry about. That means they won't be distracted from focusing on what's important to them.

If we want to get all pseudo-psychological (not saying you are, just disclaiming that I have no idea what I'm talking about), then I would wager that the animals who are getting tail in truckloads aren't striving for survival, they're trying to prove that their masculinity is intact and working well.

As opposed to another animal who only mates a couple of times and hits a home run ("She's pregnant! GO HOME, RUN!"), they can go to bed knowing that their lineage's survival is safe.

I'm not saying that the average /. stereotype doesn't get tail because he chooses not to; my train of thoughts goes more into a direction that as cultures get more civilised, their tendency to have 5 or more children slopes down very quickly.

So, as the GP said, a person with a decent education will have less of a need to get tail, as they will be able to focus on different things -- one might even say "more important" or "higher level" things. A monogamous relationship, almost symbiotic, making conscious decisions about when to have children, how many, and how it will fit into the household and careers of the involved parties; as opposed to the bulging sack of muscle emptying his backup singers on every cute face that opens her mouth and having sub-conscious, primal level instinct "hope" for offspring.

Re:Bullshit

[bsDaemon]

Would you rather be a genius with poor working conditions and little chance of reproduction for the chance to get your name somewhere in a list of "et al"s on a scientific paper, or someone of normal intelligence who made a boat load of money doing something the majority of the population thinks is cool? Man, that's a really tough one, isn't it?

Re:Bullshit

[WrongSizeGlass]

Mmmm, beer.

Re:Bullshit

[Thanatiel]

Wohoo !

Re:Bullshit

[bsDaemon]

I look at it like this:

The first priority is survival of the species, with a built-in drive to make sure my descendents are the members of the species doing the surviving. That means having offspring.

You need to have more offspring at earlier stages of societal and technical advancement because there is a higher rate of mortality among younger offspring. The 19th century farmer needs to have more kids, because many will die, and the extra hands are needed to work the land.

Once you reach a critical mass where your population can produce more than it needs to consume to maintain survival, then you can start focusing on making tasks easier and life more comfortable. This is where we get science and art. Engineering largely stems from a desire to automate the process of reaching hard-to-get objects, be it fruit at the top of trees, oil at the bottom of the sea, or moon rocks.

I think the disconnect, and push-back from "nerd types" comes from this feeling that in a largely post-agricultural society, those with the most brain power should be the most worthy of mating, whereas the most mates still go to the most physically appealing. Of course, the obvious solution is that maybe nerds should try to "level up", to borrow from XKCD and not just focus on doing mathletes crap but go kick a friggin' ball around and show girls that, yes, if necessary, I could actually climb the tree to the get the banana and wouldn't just starve to death if i didn't have the internet to order a pizza.

Re:Bullshit

[mcgrew]

If that were the case /. would be full of retards

You must be new here. It is.

I'll believe it when Jon Bon Jovi announces that he's found the Higgs Boson.

Physics takes a different kind of brain than music theory, composition, and performance. I'll believe that Bon Jovi is stupid when Dr. George Smoot is on MTV's Smoot Unplugged.

Get laid, it'l do you a world of good (but it can get expensive and lead to worse habits). BTW, I'll bet Smoot gets laid as often as Bon Jovi, and a lot more often then both of us put together.

Re:Bullshit

[denmarkw00t]

But, it can make you appear smart - how many athletes get praised for their quick thinking on the field or their genius in going with that off-sides kick that suddenly got the game tied? Other people and event settings redefine genius - a physicist wouldn't last a second playing hockey but a hockey player wouldn't be able to do squat in a lab, yet each will be praised for their intellect and skills in their respective fields.

Re:Bullshit

[PPH]

The major goal in any living being's life is to ensure the survival of his genes. Those who get the most action have the best chance of doing so, which means on a sub-conscious, primal level they're going to have less to worry about. That means they won't be distracted from focusing on what's important to them.

Sounds reasonable. The relationship between sex and stress depends on the social. With species like bonobos or homo sapiens, more sex leads to more gene prorogation and less stress. With other species (dominant male with a large harem) getting more sex is highly stressful. And although the alpha male gets a lot of sex, there is evidence that high rates of infidelity undermine his genetic monopolization of the heard. It may be that the optimal strategy for genes and stress might be to hang around the fringes, hooking up with members of the harem when they sneak out for a little something on the side.

Re:Bullshit

[mangu]

Just because they chose to focus on physical mastery over themselves, then managed to get a sweet gig making millions of dollars doing something fun doesn't make them "morons."

What makes them morons is the fact that their definition of "fun" is throwing a ball at a hoop. They are just lucky that there are millions of other morons who consider it fun to watch them playing.

Someone who considers it fun to hunt for the Higgs Boson certainly has a much more evolved brain, because so much more reasoning is needed for that.

As for making millions of dollars, who cares? If you think you need millions of dollars that's because you don't really think what you're doing right now is "fun". Personally, I would like to have millions of dollars, but if I had to live the life of a professional athlete to get them, I would say "no, thanks".

Re:Bullshit

[elrous0]

Someone like us had to invent that ball, the vulcanized rubber it's made of, the sneakers the player wears, the lights he needs to play indoors, the condom he needs to stop all those paternity suits, etc. Not to denigrate the skills of a good ballplayer, but the way I see it, the NBA owes us way more respect than we owe them.

Re:Bullshit

[Asgerix]

Just remember, every time you masturbate, god kills a kitten.

I just realized something: No pussy => masturbate => kitten dies => no pussy. It's an evil circle!

Re:Bullshit

[catmistake]

I'll believe it when Jon Bon Jovi announces that he's found the Higgs Boson.

I don't much care for Jovi either, however, he's an extremely talented guy. Probably a musical genius. And he's a decent actor now too (if you didn't notice, morons can not act). No shit. Maybe not as sky high IQ as someone like David Burn or Thomas Dolby, but Jovi is no slouch with music (ignoring the releases of his band). Einstein would have loved to jam with him.

Re:Bullshit

[AliasMarlowe]

"If more nerds got some, maybe we'd have the Higgs Boson on lock already."
Hear that ladies? The future of mankind is in your hands! Please?????

Dammit, you use your hands. Let the ladies use something better...

Re:Bullshit

[elrous0]

Too bad it wasn't Richie Sambora. He would care.

Re:Bullshit

[mcgrew]

your typical nerd male is going to be harder to talk into doing risky behavior such as hang gliding or whatever, because he'll be too busy worrying about the elevated risk of death, subconsciously due to the fact that he more than likely hasn't reproduced yet, and therefor would lose evolution.

Your hypothesis fails the logic test. If it's true, then why do young males who haven't procreated engage more often engage in risky behavior (binge drinking, driving fast, hang gliding, rock climbing) than us geezers who HAVE pased our genes along?

Re:Bullshit

[elrous0]

'Tis true enough. But then, I don't blow all *my* salary on Escalades, drugs, and gold teeth.

Re:Bullshit

[bussdriver]

Having money doesn't make you smart either. You can earn a billion form playing games no one is going to consider you a genius.

Just millions will consider you a hero.

Re:Bullshit

[shadowofwind]

The major goal in any living being's life is to ensure the survival of his genes.

Nothing personal, but no.

It is true that natural selection requires you to compete successfully in order to continue to exist, and that includes reproduction. But, natural selection is not the only principle governing nature, it is merely a very important one. A lot of behavior is effectively orthogonal to survival: you can do something, or not it, and your survival chances are the same. Furthermore, life is not entirely a zero sum game. Certain things, like cultivation of intelligence increase your chances of survival to the point where you have freedom for a lot more besides that. You can say that its instinct for propagation of genes that compels us to learn. And there's truth in that. But satisfying the instinct is just one condition that has to be met. Its not everything.

You're free to pick any 'major goal' in life that you find compelling. Of course, if your goal isn't conducive to the survival of your bloodline, then nature will kill you off. But that doesn't mean its impossible to make that choice.

If more nerds got some, maybe we'd have the Higgs Boson on lock already.

Historically, how common is it for scientists to get serious work done when they're in love or chasing hot women? The degree of concentration and dedication required for groundbreaking work would seem to me to usually preclude that. Sure, lots of famous scientists fooled around or had lots of kids. But I have a hard time believing very many of them were doing their best work in those periods, or that it occupied a very high part of their attention.

Re:Bullshit

[Anonymous Coward]

What makes them morons is the fact that their definition of "fun" is throwing a ball at a hoop.

Throwing a ball at a hoop is easy. Out-smarting, -running, -playing other people is the fun part.

Someone who considers it fun to hunt for the Higgs Boson certainly has a much more evolved brain, because so much more reasoning is needed for that.

Different skills. A game of basketball requires making dozens of decisions every second, for 80 minutes. A course in physics requires maybe a dozen decisions an hour, for 80 hours. The Higgs Boson isn't hard to find because it requires a genius. It's hard to find because it requires more data than any one person can collect and interpret.

You don't know about basketball, physics, or basic psychology. Why should anybody care what you think?

Re:Bullshit

[elrous0]

Well, in all fairness, Einstein was quite a player.

Re:Bullshit

[NewKidInTown]

Oh my God, I'm going to die alone, and STUPID.

Re:Bullshit

[thetoadwarrior]

I'd rather not have the media up my ass at every hour of the day so yes I'd trade some of the cash for some more brain power.

Re:Bullshit

[mcgrew]

Masturbation is not in any way nearly as satisfying as sex with a human being. If it were, our species would have died out long ago.

Re:Bullshit

[mcgrew]

So, who is really smarter? The guy that lived with a basketball growing up, or the guy who lived with that physics text book?

The guy with the textbook. He's at least going to get a job with a university and have a shot at making a big doscovery, while 99.99% of the sports wannabes are going to be asking of you want fries with that, or more likely, sitting in a prison cell.

Re:Bullshit

[TheBigDuck]

Nobody cares about the G*ddamn Higgs Boson as a sign of genius. Build me a frakkin' Holodeck so I can create an army of Playboy Playmates. If the Holodecks a rockin', don't come a knockin'.

Re:Bullshit

[Nerdfest]

Actually, no. It used to be that I didn't read the articles. From there I progressed to not reading the summary ... not reading the comments was just the next logical step.

Re:Bullshit

[Surt]

How smart do you have to be to be evolved against due to never venturing outside your mom's basement?

Also, you're assuming that brain size is a proxy for genius, which may or may not be true. You can get brain growth due to some fevers, and the result is not that the victim gets smarter.

Re:Bullshit

[camperslo]

There may be other aspects of sex affecting the brain also.

Some believe that hormones transmitting during some sex relieve depression.

Re:Bullshit

[mcgrew]

New brain cells typically are useless unless you fill them with something.

Brains aren't like computers with separate memory and storage. It's still a poor analogy, but your brain is more like a network than a computer. Brain cells do a lot more than just compute and store data. Think of a brain cell as a separate computer tied into a big global network.

Re:Bullshit

[nospam007]

He found Miss Higgs Bosom.

Re:Bullshit

[mcgrew]

So having sex with rats will make you smarter?

Why do you think the smart hookers don't charge the narcs?

Re:Bullshit

[bsDaemon]

I'm assuming that its subconcious. Until fairly recently in our history, contraceptives were rare and fairly ineffective, so the fact that you were having sex on a semi-regular basis pretty much guaranteed having kids. I suspect that we would find a fairly strong corrolation between the binge drinking speeders with rock climbing habits and the kids who are getting some. Not so much with the chess club kids.

Re:Bullshit

[mcgrew]

Well, I rode a dirt bik when I was young, drove fast, did all sorts of dangerous things (like messing with explosives; I am a nerd, after all). That's before I ever had kids. These days I take the younger guy's girlfriend for drinks while he's out doing dangerous stuff (like golfing in a thunderstorm).

Of course, one day that may prove dangerous, but I've gotten nothing more than threats so far.

Re:Bullshit

[middlemen]

Well, in all fairness, Einstein was quite a player.

How else do you think he came up with the theory of relativity ? If you have tons of relations, you get relative...

Re:Bullshit

[aaandre]

If that were the case AND rats were both playing the NBA and posting to /.

Rats != humans.
One of the reasons applying behavioralism truisms to human beings is fcukd up.

Re:Bullshit

[circusboy]

but what you say is true.
the nba is full of geniuses, *geniuses at having sex.*
slashdot is full of 'retards...' (as you put it)

intelligent doesn't necessarily mean good at science.
sad to say, revenge of the nerds was not a documentary...

Re:Bullshit

[osu-neko]

However, I still think there is a much higher degree of risk aversion among nerds...

Actually, I find risk aversion is much more common among less intelligent people, who cannot evaluate risk as well as the "nerdier" types, and thus tend to fear things to a much greater degree than is actually warranted.

Re:Bullshit

[SIR_Taco]

2) your typical nerd male is going to be harder to talk into doing risky behavior such as hang gliding or whatever, because he'll be too busy worrying about the elevated risk of death, subconsciously due to the fact that he more than likely hasn't reproduced yet, and therefor would lose evolution.

No, I am afraid of hang gliding because of physics class.... has nothing to do with reproducing, which I have.

On the bright side... my daughter is too young to have taken physics, so she drags me on roller-coasters all the time :)

Re:Bullshit

[phantomfive]

Historically, how common is it for scientists to get serious work done when they're in love or chasing hot women?

Dude, you can't trick me, I saw Iron Man.

Re:Bullshit

[drsquare]

Most kids who go into basketball are probably poor and would end up in poverty anyway. Most kids who go to business school are set for life in daddy's company anyway. A black from the ghetto probably has more chance of making it as an athlete than a Wall-Street big-shot.

Re:Bullshit

[Gilmoure]

Those are Doritos, thank you very much!

Re:Bullshit

[xero314]

According to Neal Stephenson in Cryptonomicon, masturbation is effective, but does not last as long, so you have to do it far more regularly. I would have to reread it to see if he says if it's as effective as the real thing though.

Now from personal experience, something most slashdotters don't have, I would say the real thing is both more effective and has a longer duration.

Re:Bullshit

[shadowrat]

I always wondered what the motivation for nitpicky arguments against analogies on slashdot was. Thanks to this article i realize that it is nothing less than an attack on my sexual prowess.

Re:Bullshit

[isorox]

Just because the NBA players don't have incentive to study doesn't mean they couldn't be genius level scholars. They could all have powerful brains that would put us all to shame.

Like Bubblegum Tate -- senior lecturer of physics at Globetrotter U?

Re:Bullshit

[Alexandra Erenhart]

Obviously rats' brains are different to human brains, otherwise rats would be experimenting on humans.

Where's the obvious Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy reference?

Re:Bullshit

[Maxo-Texas]

Even the nerdiest male alive today is the descendants of hundreds (thousands?) of male winners. Something like 60% of men throughout history did not reproduce (as opposed to about 20% of females).

The males who did well were the leaders (dozens of wives and scores to hundreds of offspring) and those who took a bold risk and became leaders.

Re:Bullshit

[Maxo-Texas]

Many poor people who apply themselves do well.

Not applying yourself makes it certain.

These subcultures have some destructive tendencies (getting an education is 'acting white', promiscuity combined with lack of contraceptives many potential better lives).

My mom didn't finish high school. I finished college and have a good career.

But you highlight the problem yourself, "A black from the ghetto probably has more chance of making it as an athlete than a Wall-Street big-shot."

The last two generations to some extent but certainly many people 24 and under have developed extremely unrealistic expectations. I don't know if it is television showing beautiful people with glasses are ugly or "middle class" houses are 750k mansions with three kids who all have cars and both parents make mid 6 figure incomes.

It doesn't work that way in real life. That's the top 5% of the population. I.e. 95% of the population isn't going to make it.

But young people join companies and expect to be promoted in a couple years - to lead a department or be a big executive by the time they are 30. And are often unwilling to work on ordinary assignments.

That's not realistic.

Re:Bullshit

[shiftless]

How many people in high school go to college vs. how many make a good living 10 years later?

Well, I guess that depends on how you define "good living." Do you consider owning a cookie cutter home in a cookie cutter neighborhood with cookie cutter kids and wife to be a "good living"?

I would venture a guess that there are more millionaires that went to business school than who played professional sports of any kind

And I'd venture a guess that there's more millionaires out there who never went to school, or dropped out of school, than those who went to business school and then became millionaires.

Re:Bullshit

[cayenne8]

" Now from personal experience, something most slashdotters don't have, I would say the real thing is both more effective and has a longer duration."

Well, everything has its drawbacks you know.

You do know the definition of "eternity" right?

That excruciating period of time between when you cum, and she leaves...

:)

Re:Bullshit

[taretha]

Historically, how common is it for scientists to get serious work done when they're in love or chasing hot women?

You might want to talk with Schrödinger about that. A little journey with his mistress in the Alps seemed profitable enough to me to science.

Re:Bullshit

[Falconhell]

Yeah, I am real glider pilot and plenty of my clubmates are tech people.

Note, in a real glider one has

1) Effective controls
2) A seat.

(:

Re:Bullshit

[Falconhell]

Your'e thinking of mice, partcularly Benji mouse.

Re:Bullshit

[Joey Vegetables]

It actually makes sound biological sense. You are more likely to successfully pass on your genes in the context of a loving, committed relationship. The kids that result from "mindless sex," while perhaps more numerous, do not receive the same kind of upbringing, and start life at a considerable disadvantage.

Re:Bullshit

[Phoghat]

Yes, but according to TFA Bon Jovi does remember the lyrics

Re:Bullshit

[mcgrew]

The trouble with the brain/computer analogy is that people here read too much science fiction (myself included) and actually believe that compters and brains are analogous, when they're not. The car/computer analogies work because we all know that cars and computers are completely different, while they don't realize that brains and computers are completely different.

Re:Bullshit

[yrrah]

The major goal in any living being's life is to ensure the survival of his genes.

Is it every man for himself, or is the goal to ensure the survival of the species as well? You can spend all day long screwing and you haven't contributed anything of value to society. If all of our ancestors chose to focus on 'physical mastery' of themselves instead of useful pursuits we would have long been wiped out.

Re:Bullshit

[progliberty]

If the brain is being used stupidly then it will grow stupidly. If you use it "Smartly" it will grow in a "smart" way.

Re:Bullshit

[Eli Gottlieb]

Hahahaha. 99.99% of the Higgs-wannafinds will burn out during graduate school or simply be passed over for tenure-track jobs.

Re:Bullshit

[RealGrouchy]

They need to do a study with masturbating rats to see if it has the same benefits as intercourse.

While they're at it, they can see if those rats grow more fur on their paws, too.

- RG>

Re:Bullshit

[badkarmadayaccount]

I'd kill for either. I don't care - senseless sex or a relationship. Thing is, everybody seems to be using me either for social experiments, or as their therapist, at freaking 16! Sometimes I start to wonder - is there even any point in this game? Live a full life - what life? Weed, alcohol, benzos, getting picked up by police? That's the only fun I get. Real fun. Just sitting there talking is nice but not satisfying. And there isn't much else to do, no partner, no kids... No prospect.... I might as well die from an overdose tomorrow... Not like anyone except possibly you guys are gonna care.... Sorry for the OT post, not feeling all the well frankly...

Now I understand...

[Toksyuryel]

...why most mainstream religions demonize sex. It all makes sense now.

Re:Now I understand...

[Tom]

Aside from the funny part, that is closer to the truth than you like.

Most of our current mainstream religions, i.e. the monotheistic, abrahamic ones, basically need you to feel horrible because their story says the world is bad and the afterlife can be good if (and only if) you follow their teachings.

It's hard to feel like shit after a good night with a lover. Your desire for spiritual salvation is quite a bit low after a hot threesome. Your belief that this world is all bad and evil and only the afterlife counts is kind of weak in the middle of getting your brains fucked out.

Look at the pope and try to take him seriously.
Now fuck for an hour and then look at the pope and try to take him seriously.
You'll notice a considerable difference.

Re:Now I understand...

[Wyatt Earp]

Judaism doesn't want you to feel horrible or tell you that the world is bad.

Christianity went sideways with that aspect, Islam can do that, but generally isn't about guilt.

Re:Now I understand...

[infinite9]

As a christian, I can assure you that you have no idea what you're talking about.

Aside from the funny part, that is closer to the truth than you like.

Most of our current mainstream religions, i.e. the monotheistic, abrahamic ones, basically need you to feel horrible because their story says the world is bad and the afterlife can be good if (and only if) you follow their teachings.

There are a lot of happy/unhappy people who are/aren't christian. Maybe it's not about that?

Is the world bad? Just ask the millions of non-upper-middle-class-white-western-civilization people for whom life most assuredly sucks on a daily basis. You don't need Christianity to prove the world is bad.

It's hard to feel like shit after a good night with a lover. Your desire for spiritual salvation is quite a bit low after a hot threesome.

And when was the last time that happened to you? Oh right, never. There are studies that show that christian couples have more and better sex than non-christian couples, even, gasp, those that waited until they were married.

Let's see how much fun that threesome is after you get multiple diseases.

Look at the pope and try to take him seriously.

I'm not catholic. I don't take the pope seriously. Please stop lumping us all together.

Re:Now I understand...

[Idbar]

Also, this research report is late. Yahoo knew this for quite some time already. One of their perks!

Re:Now I understand...

[not-my-real-name]

While the "religious leaders" may feel this way, if you actually read the books (O.T and N.T. of the Bible, and I suspect that the Koran would be similar), sex is not demonized. The Old Testament has a few things to say about who you shouldn't have sex with and avoiding sex during menstruation, it really places few other limits.

In the New Testament Paul, who is commonly thought to be a prude, says that husbands and wives shouldn't withhold sex from each other.

Re:Now I understand...

[BJ_Covert_Action]

There are studies that show that christian couples have more and better sex than non-christian couples, even, gasp, those that waited until they were married.

I'd like to see those studies that you're referring to, please.

Re:Now I understand...

[VisceralLogic]

Judaism doesn't want you to feel horrible or tell you that the world is bad.

Christianity went sideways with that aspect, Islam can do that, but generally isn't about guilt.

Christianity says that the world is bad, but that you should always be content no matter your circumstances... no telling you to feel horrible.

Re:Now I understand...

[sznupi]

It might go even deeper than you present (not really "on purpose" of course, just how such social structures end up being good at survival)

For the given, stark example - sexual desires are obviously a very powerful force in us; and it just so happens that when at their peak...they are expected to be supressed. Not merely by some external influence - it's essential to find a way of truly & honestly internalising such inhibitions, to avoid going crazy. To really value them. Once somebody manages that, escaping later in life is not likely; if only because it would make so many past struggles worthless, for starters. And of course passing it to the next generation is a good thing, helps with valuing one's essentially dysfunctional past even more; I even heard a direct "so they won't have it better than us."

Re:Now I understand...

[sznupi]

Judaism? The one that puts a nice line between those chosen (who nonetheless absolutely must to do the bidding of a deity, or else) and, well, those in not so much of a favor? Likewise Islam.

Re:Now I understand...

[sznupi]

As a basic tenet, Christianity puts on you the blame for murdering its deity FFS... (who was curiously also surely the one who surely knew how it would all unravel since before the beginning...)

Re:Now I understand...

[sznupi]

You believe you are guilty of brutally slaughtering your deity. Depending on your flavor, you also believe (and most flavors do) that quite notable sin has passed on you by the very act of your conception (a sin which started because the only woman in existence was receptive to a persuasive snake-orator, surely something the uberdeity knew in advance...but that's a side issue), accidentally quite sexual in nature. If that's not guilt ridden, I don't know what is. If you don't believe that (1st), then I'm sorry but you are not a Christian.

Which brings us to - "stop lumping"? So suddenly they are not the TRUE ones, huh? (Catholicism does represent, by far, the majority of Christianity, so I'd say it is quite good as a case scenario)

Re:Now I understand...

[PaganRitual]

As a christian, I can assure you that you have no idea what you're talking about.

Oh is that how it works? Once you're part of a group, you have complete knowledge of all facets of that group. Sweet.

As someone that uses commas, (^citation) I can assure you that you have no idea what you're talking about. Hey, that does work!

There are a lot of happy/unhappy people who are/aren't christian. Maybe it's not about that?

Maybe it is. This is a compelling argument we're having here. You're really good at making points requiring deep and involved refutation.

Is the world bad? Just ask the millions of non-upper-middle-class-white-western-civilization people for whom life most assuredly sucks on a daily basis. You don't need Christianity to prove the world is bad.

I would but they were all too busy chasing their next sexual encounter to answer the question.

And when was the last time that happened to you? Oh right, never.

I still claim that the cat jumping up on the bed in the middle of it can technically count in a pinch.

There are studies that show that christian couples have more and better sex than non-christian couples, even, gasp, those that waited until they were married.

You failed to read to the end of that study where they qualified it with the fact that the sex was with someone other than the person they were married with. You know, while we're merely claiming the existence of supporting evidence.

Let's see how much fun that threesome is after you get multiple diseases.

No danger here; I know exactly where your sister and mother have been. Dear diary, jackpot.

I'm not catholic. I don't take the pope seriously. Please stop lumping us all together.

You're Christian. A lot of us don't take you seriously. Also, we figured that lumping you altogether was the only way that threesome was ever going to happen.

Re:Now I understand...

[mjwx]

Your desire for spiritual salvation is quite a bit low after a hot threesome.

And when was the last time that happened to you? Oh right, never.

Not only can I tell you the last time that happened (June) I can tell you the next time it will happen (Late Jan/Early Feb, got to get flights sorted).

There are studies that show that christian couples have more and better sex than non-christian couples

Lets ignore the you're proving the parents point (sex is enjoyable) I'd like to see a citation. Does this come from the same Christian Scientists who discovered the "Gay gene" (or the Gay scientist who discovered the Christian gene). Does it take into account other externalities?

Having travelled to Christian and Buddhist, I'd say the Buddhists are happier. Religion is rightly called the "opium of the masses", everyone I've seen under it's influence has acted like they were high. The more religion you take (seriously) the more addled you become on that drug and the less sense you make. Don't get me wrong, I know drug users that I like but they aren't the ones who are robbing people to feed their smack habit, the same with religious people except you cant tell how much "opium" they've taken straight off the bat (BTW, cant stand Baptists, Anglican and Church of England folks are a hoot).

Let's see how much fun that threesome is after you get multiple diseases.

First you whine about FUD, then you spread FUD.

STI rates are phenomenally low, using contraception they get to the point where you have less then 1% chance of catching and STI. The vast majority of people will go through their entire lives not catching an STI.

I mean, We cant take the pope seriously, after all you must follow him being a Christian (If you dont like FUD, dont use it yourself) I'd recomend you avoid using low blows too, the church has dont a lot of damage below the belt in recent years.

Re:Now I understand...

[Wyatt Earp]

No, one must not absolutely do the bidding of a deity or else in Judaism. There is really not afterlife punishment in Judaism and while deviating from the rules can get you branded a heretic, thats it, Judaism has for the most part gotten past the killing of Jews for transgressions.

Re:Now I understand...

[Tom]

Contract syphilis and watch your Johnson rot. Now look at the pope and try to take him seriously.

We are talking about the guy who is against condoms which just happen to protect against many STDs, yes?

You seem to think there are only two truths in the world. Fortunately, the real world is a ton more interesting than that. I know a lot of people with very open sexuality who are considerably more aware and conscious of STDs as well as the emotional effects of sex than most of the prudes.

But seriously, it's amusing to me how many bigots out there think that every sermon revolves around shaming people.

Maybe you should try looking deeper than the surface. Priests are trained for several years in the arts of speech and - though it is not called that - manipulation. No other profession on this planet currently enjoys such an extensive training in these arts. Falling for priests is like falling for spam, only on a much higher level.

Or in simpler terms: Of course they put it in the way the congregation wants to hear it. It's their job to do that.

Re:Now I understand...

[Tom]

Is the world bad? Just ask the millions of non-upper-middle-class-white-western-civilization people for whom life most assuredly sucks on a daily basis. You don't need Christianity to prove the world is bad.

Apparently, you do. A lot of those people consider themselves happy, even though they are dirt poor. Happiness is not a function of wealth, not even of freedom.

Of course, exploiting them until they can't feed their families anymore, then teaching them a religion that makes everyone feel like shit and then telling them to not have birth control or prevention against STDs is not really helping...

And when was the last time that happened to you? Oh right, never.

Nice try. Of course the point was never about my or your personal sex life, but about the relation between religion and sex.

I'm not catholic. I don't take the pope seriously. Please stop lumping us all together.

Ok, for non-catholics, replace all mentions of the pope with the bible or your local priest. Same thing.

Re:Now I understand...

[Tom]

Judaism doesn't want you to feel horrible or tell you that the world is bad.

Oh yes, the religion that tells its people they are the chosen, everyone else deserves to die, and while we're at it with the conquering of the neighboring tribes, do kill all the men and children and rape the women.

True, it doesn't tell the world is bad. It goes about making sure it becomes bad.

You really want to argue about judaism being good? Spend a sunday compiling a list of offenses that carry the death penalty... oh wait, don't do it on a sunday, that would also be punishable by death.

Re:Now I understand...

[Wyatt Earp]

And yet when I eat bacon I'm not killed.

Judaism isn't just what is in the Torah, there is the Babylonian Talmud, Kabbalah, Mishneh Torah, Shulchan Arukh and She'elot ve-Teshuvot.

Now the idea that Sabbath desecration still holds the death penalty is false and has been false for oh, about 1600 years, try to keep up with changes.

Since the decline of classical rabbinic ordination in the 4th century C.E., the traditional Jewish view is that Jewish courts have lost the power to rule on criminal cases. As such, it would be practically impossible for Orthodox courts to enforce the death penalty now.

Re:Now I understand...

[Toksyuryel]

It actually bothers the hell out of me that my post was modded funny, because I was being completely serious. I guess that gets lost easily on the internet though. I'm completely in agreement with you. The fact that people found my post funny kinda drives home just how ignorant many are to all this.

Re:Now I understand...

[Toksyuryel]

Because by the time most people get married, major brain development has mostly stopped and is locked in place.

Re:Now I understand...

[Tom]

And yet when I eat bacon I'm not killed.

Yes, I know. Same for most christians, the majority of them is committing death-penalty sins daily.

And that's exactly the point. You have the holy book, word of god himself, bla bla - and then you pick and choose. Your religion is nothing but arbitrarily selected ethics, but you're too cowardly to stand up to it. Instead it is covered in a layer of superstition.

The problem with that is, of course, that it takes the rules out of adaptive change too much. Yes, the religions change - at the speed of glaciers. Most of the rules on the book now clearly do more damage then good. But no, you can't just replace them. You have to go through all this dishonest ignoring of them.

Frankly, grow some balls. Good rules don't need a religious cover.

Re:Now I understand...

[Eli Gottlieb]

Most of our current mainstream religions, i.e. the monotheistic, abrahamic ones, basically need you to feel horrible because their story says the world is bad and the afterlife can be good if (and only if) you follow their teachings.

If by "most of our current mainstream religions, ie: the monotheistic, Abrahamic ones" you mean "Christianity", particularly European-style Pagan-Christianity, then yes. Otherwise, this statement is full of crap. Oh wait, by identifying Abrahamic religion solely with European-style Pagan-Christianity, it shows that it's definitely full of crap.

Re:Now I understand...

[Eli Gottlieb]

There are studies that show that christian couples have more and better sex than non-christian couples, even, gasp, those that waited until they were married.

I call bullshit.

Re:Now I understand...

[Eli Gottlieb]

Having travelled to Christian and Buddhist, I'd say the Buddhists are happier.

Whatever, because the GP talked about "monotheistic, Abrahamic" religion, which is a very different thing from Christianity, which is usually either not monotheistic or not Abrahamic.

Re:Now I understand...

[Wyatt Earp]

I am a Jew not because of the religion, but because of the genetic heritage and traditions.

Judaism adjusts for the changing times pretty darned fast, dealing with things like abortion, the Internet, rules for a Jew in space, adoption almost as quickly as the courts do.

See some people like traditions and family, it doesn't have anything to do with "balls".

Re:Now I understand...

[Tom]

Judaism adjusts for the changing times pretty darned fast,

But you never change the book.

That is where religion differs from the law. Yes, the legal system is also slow at change, and sometimes that is not a bad thing, you don't have to follow every hype.

However, when sleeping with someone else even though you are married stopped being a crime, it was removed from the criminal code. For the religions, practice changes, but the written rules remain. Sure, at least in the west nobody has been stoned for adultery for a few hundred years, but the book still says he should. Which gives ammunition to the minority of fanatics that would love to return to bronze age ethics.

There is a massive cognitive dissonance here. On the one hand, the book is holy and the entire religion is built on it, on the other hand you go about ignoring almost everything that's in it. And you don't even see the problem with that. Having your cake and eating it, too, are we?

Re:Now I understand...

[sznupi]

But it wasn't even about afterlife (I'm not exactly fixated on it after all; nvm how with the number of ideas about it in Judaism (including: "none", or "only for very few") you can't really say much about it anyway). It was just about what your mythology presents very clearly as things happening to those who are non-submissive, guilty of audacity, etc.

"Those parts were abandoned" is not good enough, doesn't justify persisting with the rest - you need to give a whole lot better reason why what was once undendiable wisdom, will, etc. of a deity is suddenly obsolete. And why only this part.
Why it was so "wrong" (so, which of the ways of deity communication lies? The books or the world?), why essentially lying and deceiving (there's no other way with omniscience), why the mythology promotes also things which are very much evil.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Hmm...

[the_one(2)]

Does masturbation count? (no, I didn't RTFA)

Re:Hmm...

[daremonai]

Yeah, we know. You were "busy."

All I can say is:

[IMightB]

duh! I need to get funded for a study on finding out if alcohol will make you drunk or if smoking pot will get you high.

Wow, organisms rewarded for proceating!

[Orga]

Holy %&^%! These findings suggest that while stress hormones can be detrimental to the brain, these effects can be overridden if whatever experiences triggered them were pleasant. Animals that haven't spread their genes are stressed and animals that have aren't as stressed. That's gods work for sure.

Re:Sign me up

[flogger]

Do not worry. The control group will not be fucking.

Big Brains

[pspahn]

You know they say about guys with big brains...

Sex with hot female rats...

[GPLDAN]

Studies showed that male rats with Italian sports cars and gold chains, were 40% more likely to score with the most desirable female rats. This effect, deemed the "Mook Effect", was present in all test cases.

Those rats that had contributed to the Linux kernel fared the worst.

Forwarding this important study

[Tweezer]

To my wife immediately. She complains that her memory could be better.

Re:Forwarding this important study

[macbeth66]

I tried that already.

Her memory is still good enough to remember that gorgeous blonde I checked out yesterday...

Re:Forwarding this important study

[sharkey]

Tweezer's wife follows you around to keep track of your doings?

Re:Forwarding this important study

[TheLink]

Maybe she forgot who was her husband.

Re:Forwarding this important study

[rastos1]

Her memory is still good enough to remember that gorgeous blonde I checked out yesterday...

If her memory is so good ... the study explains why that's the case. In fact it seems that hers is better than yours which means ... I'm sorry.

Re:Yea but

[Zocalo]

"Self service" obviously doesn't count. If it did then dogs, and not man, would be running the world...

Who cares...

[Kildjean]

Everybody, let's go get laid...

Brains

[weicco]

Poor small-brained me :(

Sex... or orgasms?

[mrflash818]

If geeks are doing a lot of one-handed-typing and the study is really proving high orgasm frequency, then _that_ would prove why /. has such an intellectual discussion range.

P0RN site ==> /. ==> /. posts ;)

Re:Sex... or orgasms?

[betterunixthanunix]

intellectual discussion

Which /. have you been reading?

Cue up the religious right

[betterunixthanunix]

First those scientists tell our kids that they are just monkeys, and now they are telling them that they should be having sex! Just look at how they are trying to destroy our society!

I can see this

[ravenspear]

If I haven't had sex for a while I sometimes feel frusterated, while right after some amazing sex I feel relaxed and refreshed.

U huh. Right up there with "withdrawal" as BC ...

[psbrogna]

Are we sure this isn't a line some libidinous individual used on some naive prey, which inadvertently made it into scientific research or the press?

Clearly, these rats don't pay child support.

[Rene S. Hollan]

I know men who had good jobs, paid their share of child support, became unemployed and even when they managed to get reemployed, would up living almost under a bridge: child support is assessed on what you "can" earn, not on what you do, and, unlike the stock market, past performance IS indicative of future obligations.

Contraception is never perfect (even sterilization), having MORE kids can land one in jail (for neglecting the kids one has by taking on additional obligations, thus depriving them), and in the industrialized world, children are a HUGE financial liability and risk. Further, we already have WAY too many people for this planet to support.

Further, there is evidence that early sexual activity is inversely related to intelligence, though the initial study that alleges this is racially prejudiced, and statistically flawed: it placed asians at the top of the hierarchy, followed by whites, followed by blacks and everyone else. IIRC, the standard deviation of the error wiped out any statistical significance. Still, we all remember the "smart asian kid" in school who got straight A's and never any "action"/
 

Re:Clearly, these rats don't pay child support.

[MaWeiTao]

I think academic performance comes down to upbringing, not race. Although races might place different levels of importance on some things. The asian kid got straight As and never saw action because his parents demanded he excel in school and didn't allow him to socialize. Once you socialize too much grades inevitably suffer. Asians are no smarter than anyone else. Live in Asia for a while and you'll be cured of that misconception. It's like foreign kids who excel in college. They do well because they specifically came to the US to study and are appreciative of the opportunity.

Americans, on the other hand, don't appreciate what they have and are in school to study. And worse, in certain communities positive role models and discipline are seriously lacking. And there's too much of an anti-establishment attitude. The ability is there, it's just totally wasted. I'd say sexual activity is more of symptom than a cause.

Re:Clearly, these rats don't pay child support.

[Rene S. Hollan]

Oh, I'd agree with this. I simply report studies that correlate intelligence with sexual restraint which directly contradicts the article in question. These studies are dubious not because of the correlation they report, but because of what they ascribe it to: namely race.

Re:Clearly, these rats don't pay child support.

[phantomfive]

You are right, as per the 1958 Journal of Canadian Psychology (12). They bred some rats specifically for intelligence (and stupidity). Stupid rats couldn't run the maze as fast as the smarter rats.

Then they raised the rats in a bad environment. All the rats performed poorly, and there was no statistical difference between the smart rats and the stupid rats.

Then they raised the rats all in a very good environment, lots of toys, etc. All the rats performed very well, significantly better than any of the rats raised in a normal environment, and there was very little difference between the smart rats and the stupid rats (although there was some very small difference).

By far the most important thing was environment.

Sex Boosts Brain Growth... in rats.

[Valtor]

Sex Boosts Brain Growth... in rats.

Lets not forget the last part of the sentence.

Re:Sex Boosts Brain Growth... in rats.

[jd]

So we should prevent lawyers breeding at all costs?

reminds of that classic seinfeld episode

[circletimessquare]

elaine stops having sex with her boyfriend to motivate him to pass an exam (another commentary on sex and smarts) and george stops having sex because his girlfriend has mononucleosis. george gets progressively smarter (until he spontaneously learns portuguese and therefore seduces a portuguese woman, thus becoming a stupid again), and elaine gets progressively dumber. some humor from jerry's summary of what's going on in their heads:

to george:

George: What is Tungsten or Wolfram?

Alex Trebek: We were looking for 'What is Tungsten, or Wolfram'.

Jerry: Is this a repeat?

George: No, no, no. Just lately, I've been thinking a lot clearer. Like this afternoon, (To television) what is chicken Kiev, (Back to Jerry) I really enjoyed watching a documentary with Louise.

Jerry: Louise! That's what's doin' it. You're no longer pre-occupied with sex, so your mind is able to focus.

George: You think?

Jerry: Yeah. I mean, let's say this is your brain. (Holds lettuce head) Okay, from what I know about you, your brain consists of two parts: the intellect, represented here (Pulls off tiny piece of lettuce), and the part obsessed with sex. (Shows large piece) Now granted, you have extracted an astonishing amount from this little scrap. But with no-sex-Louise, this previously useless lump, is now functioning for the first time in its existence. (Eats tiny piece of lettuce)

George: Oh my God. I just remembered where I left my retainer in second grade. I'll see ya. (He throws finished Rubik's cube to Jerry and he exits. Kramer enters)

to elaine:

Elaine: How come he's gettin' so smart? I stopped having sex with Ben three days ago and I don't know no Portuguese?

Jerry: Are you all right?

Elaine: I don't know. It's just the last coupla days my mind has been, not good.

Jerry: Wait a second, I know what's happening. The no sex thing is having a reverse effect on you.

Elaine: What? What are you talking about?

Jerry: To a woman, sex is like the garbage man. You just take for granted the fact that any time you put some trash out on the street, a guy in a jumpsuit's gonna come along and pick it up. But now, it's like a garbage strike. The bags are piling up in your head. The sidewalk is blocked. Nothing's getting through. You're stupid.

Elaine: I don't understand.

Jerry: Exactly.

http://www.operaforthemasses.com/2010/06/seinfeld-review-7-abstinence.html

Pleasant albeit stressful?

[DaTroof]

To see if pleasant albeit stressful experiences could have the opposite effect, researchers studied the effects of sex in rats.

Are these rats into extreme bondage or something? "Pleasant albeit stressful" is how I might describe a satisfying occupation, not a satisfying sex life.

Re:Pleasant albeit stressful?

[LiquidLink57]

Things like sprinting a mile or going through a rigorous workout are also stressful, usually in a not-unpleasant manner. Stress isn't always just an uncomfortable, twitchy, sweaty-palms experience, constantly being nervous about everything.

Although I do suppose that could describe some sexual experiences fairly accurately.

Re:Pleasant albeit stressful?

[DaTroof]

Things like sprinting a mile or going through a rigorous workout are also stressful, usually in a not-unpleasant manner.

Good point. I took it to mean psychologically stressful instead of physically strenuous or exertive, but they probably meant something closer to the latter.

Stress isn't always just an uncomfortable, twitchy, sweaty-palms experience, constantly being nervous about everything. Although I do suppose that could describe some sexual experiences fairly accurately.

Heheh. Do rats have proms?

Suddenly I'm a lot more impressed with Marvin

[Locke2005]

"Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to take you to the bridge. Call that job satisfaction, 'cause I don't."

Re:Suddenly I'm a lot more impressed with Marvin

[mcgrew]

"Life? Don't talk to ME about life. Hate it or loathe it, you can't ignore it."

Celibacy and creativity

[topcoder]

There is a well known rumor that keeping celibacy is a great source of creativity.

From Nikola Tesla's webpage:

"Tesla never married. He was celibate and claimed that his chastity was very helpful to his scientific abilities.[22] Nonetheless there have been numerous accounts of women vying for Tesla's affection, even some madly in love with him. Tesla, though polite, behaved rather ambivalently to these women in the romantic sense."

I am sure i could find some other intellectuals who were celibates, or at least didn't give so much importance to sex. Maybe the greats insights of these genius provided them with greater pleasure (and less ephemeral) as substitute for physical orgasms. Or it may be simply that they didn't have much time or didn't give the importance to it.

Re:Celibacy and creativity

[riker1384]

Right, and we all know how well that worked out for Tesla. He spent his last days fantasizing about building death rays.

They got it backwards...

[jjh37997]

It's not that sex helps the brain grow, it's that sex helps prevent stress, which has been found to cause the brain to shrink.

And a new pick-up line has been born...

[tool462]

No longer will a guy have to resort to tactics like:
"Hey, baby, I'm shipping off to Iraq tomorrow, and I'm not sure if I'll make it back. Can we spend this one night together?"

Instead, it'll be:
"Hey, baby, I'm taking the SAT tomorrow, and I'm not sure my score will be good enough to get into Stanford. Can we spend this one night together?"

Well, it sure works for me ...

[fkx]

'Duh-Oh" ...

Counterexample

[wjc_25]

If having sex all the time made people smart, your mom would be brilliant.

As it is, she thinks the Linux kernel is something you pop in a microwave.

Does exercise work?

[MaWeiTao]

I'm not clear on what is meant by pleasant but stressful experiences. Do they mean physically or emotionally stressful. According to the article the rats which have had sex are less stressful. So where does the stress come in? Were they stressful beforehand and sex simply alleviated that?

But then if it's a stressful but pleasant activity that causes brain growth then that would imply any pleasing activity should produce the same result. Playing video games, sports, mountain climbing, etc should all be able to produce the same results. Presumably masturbation would work too.

It sounds to me like they're stating the obvious. You'll feel better if you do something enjoyable.

New headline for spam

[fabioalcor]

En-large your bra1n!

If only...

[tenzig_112]

Now if we could only get a headline like "brains boost sex growth" then we'd be in business. Somehow if that were the case, I think high school would have been a very different experience for most of us.

A wast of money

[Reginald2]

This is all part of an elaborate scheme to get the cute new lab assistant to sleep with the head researcher. A little open and honest communication would have saved a lot of funding.

Re:Yea but

[jd]

I take it you've not seen footage from the House of Commons.

Further evidence to the contrary...

[HotBBQ]

in the form of a classic Seinfeld episode, The Abstinence.

Well...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sexually active rodents also seemed less anxious than virgins.

...blow me down with a feather!

I smell an IgNobel award brewing....

Re:Yea but

[cstacy]

"Self service" obviously doesn't count. If it did then dogs, and not man, would be running the world...

You mean the dogs who we take into our warm houses, give them a nice place to sleep, feed them, wash them, walk around after them and pick up their poop for them, and tell them "Go lay down now! Good dog!" I for one welcome our pampered canine overlords...

Re:Yea but

[Acer500]

Ahh.. but you haven't seen this documentary that unveils all: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0239395/

Don't worry

[SatanicPuppy]

Don't worry, size doesn't matter

Relation to marriage.

[FriendlyPrimate]

Does this explain why getting married kills productivity in men? http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s900147.htm

Now I see!

[flattop100]

Alcohol = kills brain cells.
Sex makes you smarter.

No loss, no gain!

Re:Yea but

[Surt]

Have you ever actually seen a rat? That's practically all they do all day.

Jon Bon Jovi might not be a genius, but...

[macraig]

... Brian May arguably pretty much is one, likely better laid than the both of us, and at least as musical as Bon Jovi. I don't know of a single genius in the NBA, though, so ya got me there. Our not-so-fair city does have a former basketball star as a mayor now, but I don't think anyone is claiming he's a genius, not even himself.

In related news

[aaandre]

Rapid brain growth causes headaches...

So, just when you start gaining on your IQ, it's "I have a headache honey" day!

maybe

[BlackSnake112]

For me if I get it often, I am calmer, I think better, I solve problems better. Is my brain bigger? No idea. I just know I function better when I am getting it.

Masturbation != sex. At least for me. There is something different (in the my brain) I feel different. I am a lot calmer and better with sex then get getting off.

Well you see, I'm a scientist

[Chicken_Kickers]

Historically, how common is it for scientists to get serious work done when they're in love or chasing hot women? The degree of concentration and dedication required for groundbreaking work would seem to me to usually preclude that.

I'm a scientist and as hard as it is to believe, I actually had a girlfriend who later become my wife after 8 years of courtship. We now have several kids and truthfully, I couldn't imagine what life would be like without them. While I am no Einstein or Pasteur, my wife is a constant source of affection and unconditional support and I try to return it the best that I can. My wife and kids gives me something to look forward to after a hard days work. They provide me with the emotional and mental push needed to complete difficult research projects. It is no accident that I have their photo on my lab bench to remind me the reason why I am working hard. If this is you perception of life, then I am truly sad for you.

Re:Well you see, I'm a scientist

[shadowofwind]

I'm happy for you. I didn't mean to suggest that scientists can't love and do good work. Look at Euler for example. Personally I find it hard to focus while 'in love' or 'in lust', but I suppose not everyone is wired the same. What you describe for yourself isn't quite the same as the sex-centric mentality that I had in mind when I wrote though.

that explains why i'm stunted

[jsepeta]

unless masturbation helps, too

Oh, I know this one!

[tacokill]

You are doing it wrong...

Re:Oh, I know this one!

[mcgrew]

Try the real thing some time and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So who is the smartest man on earth???

[FragHARD]

Don't tell me it's Tiger Woods.... :0)

Re:Sign me up

[RealGrouchy]

Unless it's a control group in a "double-blind" study...

- RG>

He must be a genius then

[net28573]

That must mean that tiger woods is a genius!