February 9, 2011

Why many men lack empathy

"Extra testosterone reduces your empathy" is a story I found on physorg today. The title pretty much tells the tale.

Read the whole thing if you like. It explains why women can understand another person's intentions better than men -- in other words, why they're more empathetic. This finding makes you wonder why in hell men run the planet, given this huge defect. Here's a takeout from the story:
A new study from Utrecht and Cambridge Universities has for the first time found that an administration of testosterone under the tongue in volunteers negatively affects a person's ability to "mind read", an indication of empathy.
What they mean by "mind read" is the ability to understand another person's motivations by watching them. In other words, the thing autistic kids find it so hard to do: understand others. And when we say women are "intuitive", we are again referring to this skill.

It was obvious without the study but it's good to nail this stuff down. I wonder if you can extend this further. Men who have hairy chests and go bald have more testosterone than men with hairless chests who keep their head hair in later life. Does this mean you can fool the hairy guys more easily because they won't understand your intentions? Interesting question.

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