Serial Killers & Selfless Geniuses
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 2:28 am
Faust, Iolaus and I veered off topic over in the Fluoride thread, so I figured I'd make a new one, since I think it addresses masculinity and femininity in a way that hasn't been examined enough on this forum:
On the other extreme we have our (for the most part) benevolent innovators, inventors, leaders, profound novelists, great composers, scientists, athletes, philosophers, sages, geniuses, etc.
Testosterone is a bit of a double edged sword. Naturally one wonders what the factors are which send one man in a direction of extremely criminality, and another man in the direction of revolutionary genius and social service. Obviously testosterone is influencing both, but why a polarization has occurred, is an interesting question. Most people might guess that the former simply have testosterone levels too high. Maybe so. However, the levels between a serial killer and a great genius might actually be the same, and the factor creating differentiation might be structural differences in the brain, the later simply having a more sophisticated operation comprising their system, the former a relatively more primitive one - despite equally high levels of testosterone.
Women and womanly men are more apt to play it safe by subordinating themselves to the company, the husband or wife, the kids, the popular conventions, ideas, idols, the religion, etc.
For this they rightly get a reputation for being more submissive, obedient, cowardly, and yes, this cowardly submission is often regarded as more moral, whereas masculine overcoming of convention has often been regarded as heresy, immoral, etc.
As I'm sure you are familiar, Nietzsche commented a bit on this, distinguishing the uncreative and submissive slave morality (the feminine), from the creative and individualistic master morality (the masculine).
The later of course is reserved for a more controversial and often despised minority of types distinguished by higher testosterone levels and a relatively more masculinized neuroendocrinology.
The behavior of men is delineated by more extreme poles. On the one extreme we have serial killers, thieves, pirates, bank robbers, exploiters of the people, tyrants, genocidal maniacs, etc.
Cory: Women and men are unquestioning and obedient because it's easiest, less disturbing, more comforting in the immediate.
Iolaus: Men a far more obedient than women.
Cory: In the work place, men tend to be the leaders, the innovators, and also more likely to become cynical and exploitative, stealing from the company. Women are more contented with following instructions, playing by the rules, settling for lower positions as well as with trying to make things warm and fuzzy by decorating the office for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, organizing pot-lucks, and organizing parties outside of work.
Faust: You're saying that women are more moral in the workplace by playing fairer than men? Being innovative and leading is one thing, cynically exploiting and cheating is another.
On the other extreme we have our (for the most part) benevolent innovators, inventors, leaders, profound novelists, great composers, scientists, athletes, philosophers, sages, geniuses, etc.
Testosterone is a bit of a double edged sword. Naturally one wonders what the factors are which send one man in a direction of extremely criminality, and another man in the direction of revolutionary genius and social service. Obviously testosterone is influencing both, but why a polarization has occurred, is an interesting question. Most people might guess that the former simply have testosterone levels too high. Maybe so. However, the levels between a serial killer and a great genius might actually be the same, and the factor creating differentiation might be structural differences in the brain, the later simply having a more sophisticated operation comprising their system, the former a relatively more primitive one - despite equally high levels of testosterone.
Women and womanly men are more apt to play it safe by subordinating themselves to the company, the husband or wife, the kids, the popular conventions, ideas, idols, the religion, etc.
For this they rightly get a reputation for being more submissive, obedient, cowardly, and yes, this cowardly submission is often regarded as more moral, whereas masculine overcoming of convention has often been regarded as heresy, immoral, etc.
As I'm sure you are familiar, Nietzsche commented a bit on this, distinguishing the uncreative and submissive slave morality (the feminine), from the creative and individualistic master morality (the masculine).
The later of course is reserved for a more controversial and often despised minority of types distinguished by higher testosterone levels and a relatively more masculinized neuroendocrinology.