fox news: sex makes us dumb

FOX NEWS: Sex Makes Us Dumb


It’s a fact: Sex, or the prospect of having sex, makes you dumb. While the list of benefits goes on for miles (pain relief, more regular menstrual cycles, fewer colds, increase in youth-promoting hormone DHEA, etc.) the pursuit of sex makes you do stupid things.

Ask Tiger Woods or Jesse James, who in response to "What were you thinking . . . ?" will hang their heads, dog-that-got-caught-in-the-trash-like looks on their faces, and in private will bash their heads against the wall wondering, "What was I thinking? I wasn’t."

Otherwise perfectly sane people will put all their faith that the "other" (or others) will keep their secret and not turn into a psycho bunny boiler. And what do they have to lose? Everything: their family, their reputation, for some, their careers – all for a little bump and grind. Huh? And this happens over and over and over.

"There's very little advice in men's magazines, because men think, ‘I know what I'm doing.’ Just show me somebody naked." — Jerry Seinfeld

The division we joke about – the brain above and below the belt – holds true to a certain extent, especially for men since more of the male brain is designated for sex. In one of my favorite studies, Canadian researchers showed men pictures of conventionally pretty or not-so-pretty women. The men were told they could receive either $15 the following day or $75 after waiting a few days. The men who saw the picture of the beautiful women were more likely to take the $15, proving, researchers say, that men stop thinking about long-term consequences once the lust chemicals kick in. (The same test was done on women, and it had no effect on their thinking process). Some nice cleavage or legs can cause a man’s limbic system to fire up while his prefontal cortex heads south, leaving the judgment area of the brain not-so-well equipped.

Some ovulating women may be able to sympathize with men in feeling damn dumb, but only a few days out of the month: One study found fertile women more tolerant of one-liners. Another study of "sexual risk-taking behaviors" recorded that ovulating women found high-testosterone men more attractive; however, later in the month they considered more sensitive low-testosterone men to be better partners.

"Sex alleviates tension. Love causes it." — Woody Allen

"Sex Logic" is what I call the bizarre set of unsubstantiated rules that flit through – or dominate —your brain when you are faced with a flirtatious attractive other. Both men and women suffer from this affliction, which, unfortunately, can have far-reaching negative effects. In my opinion, men seem to be able to believe illogical things with unflinching faith (even though it is temporary); while women, on the other hand, it’s almost a cognitive decision to believe these things during the state of arousal, perhaps hoping they’ll be true.

Examples include:

— You are in a strip joint and you convince yourself that the stripper actually likes you. You leave the strip joint (alone), open your empty wallet and think, "Jeez, I am an idiot." A month later, you’ll do exactly the same thing again.

— You figure you don’t need to use a condom because you probably don’t have any more working sperm — because you’ve ridden a bike without padding, smoked too much marijuana, or are just too old. (And conversely, you’ll believe her when she says she’s pretty sure she can’t get pregnant due to some self-identified medical problem as well).

— You decide that a porn site looks legitimate enough to give your credit card information to (while the small print you are neglecting to read states that their billing cycle is every 15 days and you have to sign up for three months minimum).

In a woman, Sex Logic is the part of her brain that believes a man when he says things like, "I am almost divorced" or "That bump on my member is not an STD, it’s an ingrown hair."

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

Sex Logic is dangerous; it leads to bad judgment. Men and women experience danger in different ways: Men don’t react until it’s imminent while women can look farther into the future. How this affects the cheating rates, and the getting-caught cheating rates is yet to be studied. However, the colloquial notion of "letting one out of the chamber" before going on a date may sound funny, but it’s a good idea. So is making big decisions under the influence of stupid, meaning when lust or the prospect of sex is in the air.

http://current.com/1h39g4c

 

Doesn't apply to me, i'm a frickin' genius

But that's because i'm not getting any

Nah, interesting read. And the examples, well, they are sort of true.

 

yeah it makes sense... good read

 

And neither are the guys at Fox News. So what's their excuse for being dumb?

 

Television. And they think it's making us stupid

 

Sex brings out stupid people's stupidity is all this tells me. I've never done anything like any of those.

 

I guess they have to watch themselves. :tongue:

I grew up hearing all the old jokes about young guys thinking with their dick heads instead of their other head. Some things never change.

 

I'm so dumb I couldn't even read the whole thing

 

Makes me glad I am only going to have sex with the one person for the rest of my life and I won't have to worry about this.

 

That makes your life a lot simpler. :cheers2:

 

^ Well, I'm sorta hoping we'll have sex with a couple other people, but I definitely agree.

I think the reason so many people are afraid of "non-traditional" relationships is how complicated they can get =P

I mean, just going from the traditional marriage model to whatever we have now confused the fuck out of everyone.

 

Sex can be a very confusing issue. Maybe I'm just not very sexual or something, but I just have no fears or worries about being tied to one person forever and never "playing the field"

 

I have no fears about that either.

I think part of it is the media influence and the commonality of divorce.
I was raised around a lot of old people, so I saw a lot of lifelong relationships that were very beautiful.
I don't think enough people get that these days.

 

Very true. And my feelings probably have a lot to do with the fact that my parents aren't divorced and have been together most of their lives.

The whole concept of cheating is weird to me. It's fine if you want to sleep with multiple people, but just be honest about it and don't be in a monogamous relationship. People seem to want their lives to be complicated.

 

Well, the tradition of cheating in America seems to have started with the idea that you should lay your wife gently (social rule), or only when baby-making ('moral' rule) - so you can only have the wild sex with others.

But I think it's carried on mostly because people don't realize that a relationship should cause a sense of contentment. People want passion, people want romance, but most don't have a clue what love really is.

 

Yeah, it does seem to be a self-perpetuating idea that marriage = boring sex

 

dammit, that's what i was going to say.

 

,

 

I like sex

 

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