Just curious today, do you know of any studies that explain why men do stupid stuff
 

Looking for answers on the internet on why men, and sometimes women, do stupid stuff when overly horny, especially young people.

Found this:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316001989_Single-Dose_Testosterone_Administration_Impairs_Cognitive_Reflection_in_Men

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265693 lots of words, hard for me to understand result

Any other scientific/honest studies that better explain what happens?

Personally I think this topic should be covered early in a person's life so they can mentally prepare and fight against stupid behavior.

One day an investigative reporter waltzed into the local marriage commissioner's office to ask a few basic questions.

Reporter: Has anyone come to you and asked you what the legal ramifications/consequences of obtaining a marriage license are?

Marriage commissioner: No, most of the people who come in here are in heat.

What kind of stupid thing are we talking about? I think there motivation will be different depending upon what stupid thing we are talking about.

Stupid is also subjective. The first TV I got on my own was a 42" Sony rear projection. I think it was about $1200 back in the mid 90's. I was single, could afford it and I wanted it. One could easily argue that it was stupid. The money could have been saved for something more important.

Dated some women, who in hind sight, were not good for me. They helped me grow and it gave me experience to figure out what I did want.

Things can be both stupid and not stupid....perhaps.

Here's from the "when a man's wife passes away, he sometimes goes and does something REALLY STUPID" file. I know of three cases where immediately after the man's wife passed away, a genuine 100% GOLD DIGGING B*TCH moved into his life and began to take his money and other valuables.

In some of the cases, the gold digger took a LOT.....:eek::eek:

If my wife ever passed before me I can't imagine getting hooked up with someone that has 50+ years of baggage but I guess one's mindset might change.

I asked the question primarily because of the recent Matt Araiza publicity:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34472012/buffalo-bills-release-punter-matt-araiza-wake-gang-rape-lawsuit

Basically brought up thoughts of some of the stupid stuff I did when young.

Question is ' what ' hormones, receptors ' are activated that have enough influence to override rational thinking '?

In my limited searching I did find that a continuous educational effort towards ' teaching ' drug users the harm done by drugs was moderately successful in reducing drug use. Just wondering if the same could be done to override the sudden impulse to do bad things when the sex drive is revved up.

Okay....that does not even touch on stupid. That is pure evil. That is violence. That is sexual predation.

Stupid usually starts with ' hey everyone...watch this' or may be 'hey...I dare you too...'. that type of stuff.

When I think of stupid stuff...I think of things I did that were not in my own self interest. Harm to others does not fall into that category in my opinion.

Agree it is much more serious, but I still believe the rational thinking that should have prevented the rape, was impacted by the flood of something like hormones. So what causes the override of rational thinking during minor and major stupid behavior.

Sexist thread

The 1st study I referenced, if I read it correctly found that a dose of testosterone impacted cognitive thinking. Cognitive thinking, as I read the definition of it is conscious thought processes.

Further research says that for men a little estrogen with the testosterone further reduces the cognitive thinking and increases the desire for sex. To me, this desire for sex plus the reduction of conscious thought processes leads to what I simply call stupid behavior.

I'm just searching for additional scientific studies that might shed more light on what leads to stupid choices.

Supposedly for drug users education can reduce drug usage to some degree. It looks like the same type education would help young people be better prepared to reduce the stupid behavior caused by a flood of hormones.

I was raised in a dairy and beef farming community. I'll never forget the first time I watched a prize Angus bull's behavior while being led into a breeding pen. Heat is a gentle word to describe the mood he was in. Rational behavior was the last thing on his mind. I think men can act the same, especially when young and starting out their prime fitness years. It just seems education about what is happening could counter and reduce some of the stupid stuff.

This stupid stuff seems to be primarily with the young people. Definitely not confined to men only.

Testosterone
 

I think you nailed it .

I remember back when .

There is a possibility that the same sort of stupidity TX Is referring to happens in females as well. I have encountered teenage girls who were incredibly horny around the ages 14, 15, 16. I was almost stupid enough once when I was in my late 30s to indulge with one such young lady. I will stand by for the brick bats and castigation about what a horrible person I am. I did not do it, I was tempted, you had to see this young lady and experience her actual aggressiveness. She lived on a 1000 acre group homestead up in the hills of Eastern Washington. With a group of back to the land hippie families, sexual permissiveness was in the air. One day I was doing some work putting together a small shed, I had a nail apron on, she and another girl about the same age came up and were talking with me, at one point she got up real close and slowly reached into my nail apron as if she was looking for something. I backed up, did not encourage her further. There were times on lonely nights I wondered why the hell not, I’ll be honest. There were numerous other incidents that I’m not going to get into, I’ll probably be called a liar for everything that I’ve said so far.

Years later (maybe 20 years) I encountered her and she was a born-again Q-anon-er talking about all the men who had molested her. Rarely have I encountered such a horny and willing female. Made me really glad, I mean really glad that I resisted the temptation. And she was one of these 15 going on 22 young women. OMG the body on that chick.

There is a distinct possibility that the woman in the story saw a chance for a six-figure payday. There is also the chance that it happened exactly like she said. But I will not be issuing statements about “evil” at this distance.

I believe you 100 % but many men who are sexually frustrated (and rightfully so) won't .

This same thing occurs when women reach their mid to late 40's ~ to me I think that age is pretty close to perfect in women, they're not going to change, know what they want and how to get it, what to do etc.......

I know many men only think young women are good looking, they have no idea what they're missing .

You're dead right about how some young women are looking for a paycheck, or to get a foothold in life .

My then young son was just out of high school when his 18 year old girlfriend tried this and he dumped her .

He told me later "she said if you love me you don't need rubbers and I remember you'd said you're not going to raise up and bastards so I had to let her go right then " .

Within three months she was pregnant and planning her marriage to the next sucker in line .

One of my better clients has a rental house in San Carlos, nice little place. One couple that lived there for a couple of years, I’m guessing in their late 20s, he was a high tech guy, seemed halfway affluent. I always got sort of funny vibes from both of them. There was some tension between them, and when I worked there when she was there alone she seemed a little friendlier then would be appropriate. Never remotely tried something.

The last I heard from him they had separated. He was not happy and vented his spleen. He said she had never had a job the entire time they were married, which I think was about four years. And he said that she was trying to get the maximum amount of money out of him in the upcoming divorce. It all made sense, there was something cynical about her, I didn’t really like her much. And he seemed sort of green and naïve.

Its pretty easy to me - name one thing that brings as much/more immediate satisfaction as:
-Orgasm
-drunkedness/drug impairment/being 'high'
-Being a solo/small group performing act on stage with a large and energized audience (?)
-'Cheating death'

you could name lots of thing (seeing others happy, helping others, feeding a hungry person, creating great(?) art, birthing a child, fufilling a greater need, drastically changing the world or local are for the better...) but none of them are as immediate or as 'euphoric' as my short list above.

If you agree that this is true (I'm sure ive missed something...)- then you are fighting years of evolution (?) that says "do this now, because it feels good now".
Maybe you can externally influence someone's actions ('she'll get pregnant' or 'you'll get hungover/arrested' or "If you try that and get caught, you are getting excommunicated').

My approach also explains why some women do dumb stuff as well (?).

Maybe this is the answer you seek - if you want men to be as risk-averse as women, change their biology to be more like women (fewer orgasms, greater consequences for inebriation, ability to bear children... This has its own drawbacks, but maybe some people are doing this on their own...right now...

(I said 'maybe', I'm not advocating for anything in this email, just explaining how I see the rationale.)

imo (I'm not medically trained) any attempt to thwart these urges with hormones/medicine is likely to be a temporary solution at best. or at worst - some other unintended consequence that happens when we start throwing chemicals into peoples bodies...

Thats all I got (and I -do- have teenaged boys in the house...)

So far the short list seems to be:

Peak hormone release beginning around 17 and continuing high for about 10 years

Brain not quite fully developed for rational thinking, not thinking about the consequences

Lack of experience

Peer group influence, showing off in front of crowd

Growing rate of alcohol and bad drug use due to peer pressure, helps remove some of the immature inhibitions.

Education and family discussions seem to help with better decisions

Some of my regrets when young:

- falling in lust with an older classmate, lots of moonlight episodes in an alfalfa field with the comfort of the rear seat bottom pulled from 51 Chrysler Windsor. Big like a sofa. Lost my long time perfect girl friend due to this.

- Endangering my life and classmates by driving 110mph in Chevy V8 powered 34 Ford Convertible. Poor brakes and drive train plus convertible top and rumble seat. Lucked out. Some classmates had serious accidents with their cars.

- Driving like Mario Andretti in my BMW's the few times I was buzzed on alcohol. Really lucked out, no accidents or close calls.

We used to call this thinking with the wrong head. Its a problem for men of any age though as the testosterone gets lower it is less so.

Some times I see a younger woman giving me the eyeball and I think, "Oh she likes me" then I think I'm old enough to be her father....now grandfather.

Then I think of the other thing I have heard..."There's no fool like an old fool!"

Agree on the old fool part.

I thought I had found the perfect woman for me about 32 years ago.

Movie star pretty
106 pounds
did over an hour of exercise a day
great cook, perfect housekeeping
great traveling companion
loved sex, possibly more than I did. I remember more than once circling our condo on the nearby freeways to give her time to finish what she started on the way home after dinner.
great family

But life with her was continual peaks and valleys. Several days of bliss followed by 2-3 days of pathological jealousy. I couldn't talk to any woman except her and her mother.
Couldn't talk to her sisters or my sister-in-law. Her face would turn purple and I didn't have peace for 2-3 days at a time. Finally broke up with her when she gave me Sxxx at the hospital while my mom was there for her last days. Seven year relationship cost a lot of dollars, but the emotional cost was way more. Took me five years before I wanted to be with another woman.

Used to drive a Range Rover for a few years. Actually had women follow me and try to get my attention. Once while driving cross country in my almost new red 78 300CD, I stopped in a small town in Alabama. While buying a few things at a store an attractive young woman/girl came up to me and asked where I was travelling to. I told her and she actually asked if she could go with me. Reminded me of the 1962 movie Lolita. Definitely was tempted but luckily declined.

But that stopped as I got into my late 50's. After that I had to hang $100 bills out of my shirt pocket. :-)

Now I'm attracted to good cooks and peaceful companions. Can't stand the drama and baggage so many people bring with them.

In A Nut Shell.......
 

It appears men do foolish and ill considered things because nature has hard wired us to do so in order to perpetuate the race .

So what if Bobby dies after getting Rose preggers in the back seat ? .

There's always plenty more men and women .......

I appreciate the thoughts and comments here, I too had the *perfect* and to me most beautiful woman I've ever had in my mid to late 30's but her endless jealousy and hostile world view put the kibosh on it after some years, I still greatly miss many aspects of her, we thought the same most of the time, the sex was the best I've ever had, she was good with money and a better housekeeper than I, a great cook too....

She even knew how to drive a stick shift .

I'm thinking about beginning a new thread, maybe it belongs here :

Has anyone here ever dated / married / tangled with an actual Nymphomaniac or sex addict ? .

Just laughing to myself after reading your comments.

Women like that are probably just as addictive as cocaine. Definitely hated to not have that joy anymore. Self pleasuring is not as good, unless I'm really happy with a repair I've done. :-)


It's easy to think that we are more than just animals. Continuing the species is what we are made for. It's no wonder that levels of violence and mating use some of the same hormones and receptors. If there is competition, the biggest, strongest, best looking, best provider usually gets the female.

One cute, to me, joke is: Two bulls, one young and one old, were looking down the hill towards a group of cows. The young one said ' Let's run down and get us one each '. The old bull replied ' Let's walk, and have them all '.

" just animals"
 

Yes we are but we're far more....... uh, ? advanced ? than most of the animal kingdom .

I could tell some stories about women and the foolish things I've done .

Luckily I didn't like cocaine nor other drugs ~ I didn't like how I wasn't able to switch it off when I wanted , I can do that with most other things .

From the 1960's : "sure kid, that's why they call it DOPE" .

Propagate the species. Where is Dr Freud when we need him?

Propagation
 

THANK YOU ! .

You remembered the word I was searching for .

As far as Dr. Freud, I imagine he's chatting with Dr. Ruth......:P

Didn't know much about Freud.. looked him up and found this:

https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/memberarticles/why-did-freud-see-human-nature-as-being-motivated-solely-by-instincts-for-pleas

In the article it quoted someone named Frankl as saying:

"In between stimulus and response there is a space, in that space lies our power to choose our response in our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Pretty powerful statement, to me, concerning what it is to be ' human '.

Summary of Frankl and description of his book ' Man's search for meaning '

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/206272/mans-search-for-meaning-by-viktor-e-frankl/9780807000007/teachers-guide/#:~:text=Frankl's%20Man's%20Search%20for%20Meaning,endure%20and%20overcome%20harrowing%20experiences.

Plenty of men do "stupid" stuff to get laid. The vast majority do not resort to rape and torture as Matt Araiza allegedly did. That is an entirely different matter.

“Allegedly” is the operative word.

Think of the worst things that men do in women then consider that there is balance in nature. Women are just as bad as men.

Nice
 

Good to see some here are clearly thinking about the deeper subject matter .