Testosterone – the double-edged sword.

[Ryan Rudolph]

It seems to me that this sex hormone is largely responsible for much of the ambition, creativity, innovation, and drive to overcome psychological boundaries observed in males. So testosterone renewals the individual’s feelings of discontentment, dissatisfaction, and inquisitiveness about how things are.

However, on the reverse side, it is largely the motivator of the male sex drive and the aggression drives. It could be said that in individuals with excessive levels of testosterone, it actually controls cognitive activity, and thereby controls the decisions and actions of the individual, resulting in an individual that is discontent/creative, but at the same time heavily discontent with how his mind is controlled because of the same sex hormone, so how is perfection even possible for such a man? I wonder if it is at all....

It seems like a dilemma, unless there is an optimal level of testosterone that keeps the discontent burning, and the creativity coming, but it is low enough to keep the sex drive at a manageable level.

Because it would be tragic if the male was castrated and he lost his sex drive, but also lost his creative discontent urge, turning him into a docile cow-like woman.

Any thoughts or comments?

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Ryan,

Because it would be tragic if the male was castrated and he lost his sex drive, but also lost his creative discontent urge, turning him into a docile cow-like woman.

As The Dude would say, "you think I'm married? You see a wedding ring on my finger? The toilet seat's up, man!"

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Oh, then he fishes his sunglasses out of the toilet and stuffs them on his face. And sometime by the end of the movie, he screws some random artist chick.

[Shahrazad]

As The Dude would say, "you think I'm married? You see a wedding ring on my finger? The toilet seat's up, man!"

And that would prove it. No married man would stay married by leaving the toilet seat up.

[Philosophaster]

For whatever it's worth, Ludwig Wittgenstein underwent testosterone-reduction therapy toward the end of his life when he had prostate cancer. He claimed that the therapy made him less driven and less able to think clearly and concentrate.

On the other hand, Andrew Sullivan said that higher testosterone made him less able to focus on his writing and much more likely to lash out with physical aggression.

Two anecdotes may not mean much, but it seems to me that there may be a "happy medium" for testosterone in men. Too little and you'll have no drive, too much and you'll be too fidgety and aggressive to accomplish much of anything, intellectually.

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Philo,

Too little and you'll have no drive, too much and you'll be too fidgety and aggressive to accomplish much of anything, intellectually.

If you know both, you've been both?

[Philosophaster]

I don't have any idea what my testosterone levels are. I'm guessing that they're normal or above normal, as I seem to maintain low body fat with little trouble. I doubt that they're extremely high, though, since I'm not very aggressive at all.

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Let's assume that you're not aggressive at all. I'd say that's no testosterone. How would you best deal with that situation, if it was true?

[Philosophaster]

How would I deal with not having any testosterone? I'd go to the doctor and get a prescription for some testosterone, because low testosterone is associated with quite a few health problems in men.

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Well, then! Get your testosterone levels checked. All potential cause for concern is averted! Or is it?

[Philosophaster]

Nah, I'm not going to go to the doctor for that. Pretty much the only way guys my age can have low testosterone is through ongoing sickness like cancer or AIDS, and I'm pretty sure I don't have those.

[Cory Duchesne]

For whatever it's worth, Ludwig Wittgenstein underwent testosterone-reduction therapy toward the end of his life when he had prostate cancer. He claimed that the therapy made him less driven and less able to think clearly and concentrate.

On the other hand, Andrew Sullivan said that higher testosterone made him less able to focus on his writing and much more likely to lash out with physical aggression.

Two anecdotes may not mean much,

To me it implies that testosterone is a bit like software operating on hardware. Hypothetically, two individuals may have equally high quantities of T, but the two individual may behave quite a bit differently. One man is an impulsive highly aggressive criminal, while the other is a surgeon, great philosopher or scientist. To my mind, this implies that testosterone, as software, can operate on the body for the better or worse, depending on the sophistication of the hardware as well as the environment.

[Philosophaster]

It would be an interesting study to take the testosterone levels of the highest-achieving scientists and mathematicians and compare them to the average for the male population.

[The Dude]

Philo: interesting, but it doesn't make you a high-achieving scientist or mathematician. Just a guy with an idea.

[Philosophaster]

Philo: interesting, but it doesn't make you a high-achieving scientist or mathematician. Just a guy with an idea.

Yeah. I don't think I'll ever be a high-achieving scientist or mathematician.

I don't have the brains for it.

[The Dude]

I don't have the brains for it.

No kidding. You have the brains to come up with ideas, but not the brains to do anything about it!

[Philosophaster]

Yes, basically.

[The Dude]

Philo:

Yes, basically.

Use someone else's brain?

[The Dude]

Sher,

And that would prove it. No married man would stay married by leaving the toilet seat up.

And what would you recommend? Sitting down? Learning to aim?

No can do, bitch.

[Rhett]

Using the testosterone theory, in my experience aggressive outbursts happen in men with low to medium testosterone levels. Once the testosterone reaches a higher level, aggressive outbursts would be too aggressive to let loose, so they are suppressed.

[The Dude]

You suppress your aggression? Fuck! Just go to a hospital for a bit... think of it like a vacation... all the drugs you can handle, and you get sent home all sparkly and clean :)

[Shahrazad]

And what would you recommend? Sitting down? Learning to aim?

No, dummy. Lift the seat, pee in the bowl, put the seat down, and put your weewee back in your pants. It's really not that complicated.

[The Dude]

Sher,

No, dummy. Lift the seat, pee in the bowl, put the seat down, and put your weewee back in your pants. It's really not that complicated.

Yes, mother dearest. Would you suck my cock if I leave it out?

[Shahrazad]

Of course not, Dude. Think of me as your mother. You're just a kid any how.

[Rhett]

You suppress your aggression? Fuck! Just go to a hospital for a bit... think of it like a vacation... all the drugs you can handle, and you get sent home all sparkly and clean :)

No, i wasn't talking about myself, i was talking about a range of normal people, including yourself, of course. You come across as a low to medium level testosterone. You go with your emotions, like a woman goes with her emotions.