Exposure to high prenatal testosterone levels may contribute to genius.
Savant-style genius may be affected by the amount of testosterone you receive in the womb, according to a new University of Alberta study.
The roots of extraordinary genius have long been the subject of a nature versus nurture debate, but educational psychology professor Martin Mrazik thinks that prenatal conditions may be the determining factor.
“We can’t underestimate the power of nature. Some things may be very biological in nature, and no matter how hard we try to develop a genius, maybe it’s not really the way to go about it,” Mrazik said.
Mrazik and his colleague from Rider University in New Jersey recently linked prenatal testosterone exposure to children with high levels of precociousness — the presence of above-average mental capabilities at an early age. The pair used advanced techniques such as functional MRI scans to investigate how the brain works.
“Testosterone seems to influence the right hemisphere. That’s where our math, science, reasoning, and abstract thinking take place […] We found a lot of evidence to suggest that in very precocious kids, [they] have very highly developed brain networks in the right frontal lobes of their brain.”
Mrazik also found that precocious children were found to have a higher incidence of short-sightedness and allergies, conditions which may also be associated with more exposure to testosterone in the prenatal environment.
So there you have it: proof that, on average, men are more logical and rational, and deeper thinkers, than women. All thanks to the wonder drug that is called testosterone. All hail Big T!
When I was a kid I had pretty bad allergies. But my eyesight is crystal clear. If I wasn’t busy screwing I could have been a fighter pilot.
The research is still in its early stages, and Mrazik is certainly not advocating for pregnant women to artificially enhance their testosterone levels, especially considering the potential negatives. He explained that in many cases, savant-like genius is associated with learning disorders such as Asperger’s Syndrome or autism.
I could see eugenics embracers like Jodie Foster stabbing themselves with needles full of steroids in hopes of imparting their male fetuses with super high IQ. Only to find out they had given birth to Tokyojesusfist.
On a related note, a reader wrote to say he was concerned that his unmasculine digit ratio — a biological quirk associated with prenatal testosterone levels that affects the ratio of the index finger and ring finger lengths — meant he might turn out gay.
I told him not to worry about it. There appear to be two major testosterone events in a man’s life. The first is prenatal — how much testosterony goodness is released in the womb affects your 2D:4D digit ratio. (High T = lower ratio.) The second T event is puberty and young adulthood. It is during that time frame that a second blast of T is released which affects such things as secondary sex characteristics. There is even a study out there (perhaps an ambitious reader can look it up for the edification of the studio audience) which concludes that the second wave of T is more important for a man’s physical and psychological “manliness” than the prenatal T, which seems to exert its primary influence on mental traits such as math ability and level of empathy. The study quoted above supports my view of the functions of these two testosterone events. And as of now, there is no evidence that the two major T events are related. Exposure to low T in the womb does not necessarily mean the release of adolescent T will be low as well.
In any case, the reader should relax. As far as we know, male digit ratio has nothing to do with being gay. In fact, one study purported to show that gay men have more masculine digit ratios.
How does it happen that fetuses are exposed to high T-levels in the womb? Does it mean that the women bearing them tend to be more masculine and probably have more masculine physical characteristics? Isn’t that kind of face and physique about the opposite of what this blog teaches is the most attractive kind of female?
lol @ that reference to tokyojesusfist.
I don’t think Testosterone has anything to do with sexual preference. Just look at the regular homossexual and you’ll see they have lots of high T indicators.
Bro, I don’t think short-sightedness and near-sightedness are the same thing. Is that what they meant?
You named He Who Must Not Be Named!!!!
I find that girls love to drink from my Fountain of Testosterone. It makes them smarter, and refreshes them simultaneously.
Nor does genius-inducing high T in the womb necessarily lead to getting-laid-inducing high T during puberty.
And also, aren’t there several studies that show genius IQ men are much lower T than average?
Eating more fat, and fewer carbs, helps increase testosterone.
I bet that second t-blast is why athletics and fitness are so important during the teenage years. Raising a mathlette can kill a kids later alphaness.
What is your I.Q, Roissy? That is, if you even have taken one of those tests.
Steve Sailer once mentioned that he thought that artistic geniuses, like David Bowie, apparently an obsessive copulator, probably had higher levels of both male AND female hormones.
IIRC, having too high a level of testosterone may suppress intelligence. Things like athletic ability, evidence of higher T, do tend to correlate with IQ, but only up to a point. Nerds aren’t renowned for their physical prowess.
I can tell you honestly that in addition to his “winning trophies for his game face alone” his IQ is 300n.
You should also hear Griffin Hansbury’s story from Youtube.
In short: A dyke undergoes sex change, pumps her/himself full of testosterone and tells how he suddenly became interested in science, etc. Pure gold.
I told him not to worry about it. There appear to be two major testosterone events in a man’s life. The first is prenatal — how much testosterony goodness is released in the womb affects your 2D:4D digit ratio.
Stop with the pretty lies. tell the dude he is a flamboyant f.ag who should find himself a hairy BF asap
[Editor: That’s pretty much what Stanley Ann Dunham said to Lolo Soetoro, in so many words.
ps now we now why barry’s dreams come from his absent alpha father instead of his dutiful beta stepfather.]
Bit more complex than this.
http://majorityrights.com/images/uploads/prepubertal_iq.pdf – kids who are either really smart or dumb have low T.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9845018 – more T correlates with being smarter, except at high levels of T. (Also, female IQ = Male IQ, on average – despite obviously low testosterone, so something else is going on as well).
[Editor: Lynn claims that the average male IQ is a few points higher the the average female IQ.]
So even if testosterone is positive in utero, that hardly makes it useful at all times. It also doesn’t mean that raising your post-uterine testosterone does anything good for you.
[It increases your motivation to score.]
It’s also worth noting that studies confirm higher IQ’s are less likely to get laid. I believe the difference between sexual activity was that those with a 100 IQ were 1.5-5 times as likely to have had sex, depending on age. The most likely to have sex had IQ’s from 75-90, which is not terribly surprising.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the dose of T in these 2 events is negatively correlated. High IQ men are noticeably less physically masculine than average men.
I have numerous allergies and myopia, but was lucky enough to get a large dose of T during puberty. At my university, the men are swimming in beta. White knight faggots abound.
http://members.cox.net/jmhoward3/Explanation%20of%20the%20Flynn%20Effect.htm
Too much of anything….
And genius also has to verbalize in order to get the nobel.
“There appear to be two major testosterone events in a man’s life. ”
and a surge during first months of infant life, which might be related to this:
http://www.economist.com/node/16004382?story_id=16004382
another:
” At birth, a baby boy has as much testosterone in his bloodstream as a 12 year old boy. The levels drop a few months after birth, and will rise again at the age of 4 or 5, for reasons that no one understands, and again at about 14. ”
school?
Hail! Hail! Hail!
What the fuck is wrong with being gay?
I love being gay!!
[Editor: Nothing! But butch lesbians…. yeeeech.]
This explains negro intelligence.
How much do estrogenic substances like alcohol and weed affect puberty?
In this day and age, using vague LSM pop-sci to daydream out loud about what your T might be is as foolish as speculating about a baby’s paternity based on his facial features. We have cheap tests that remove all doubt.
Get tested, ESPECIALLY if you have trouble acting like a quintessential man, you put others first and are a pushover. If your number is low, you can take prescription T legally.
But if Genius’s have so much testosterone, why do they suck so badly with women?
How does it happen that fetuses are exposed to high T-levels in the womb? Does it mean that the women bearing them tend to be more masculine and probably have more masculine physical characteristics? Isn’t that kind of face and physique about the opposite of what this blog teaches is the most attractive kind of female?
Look for smart and pretty girls with alpha fathers. Pray for good genetics.
High IQ men are noticeably less physically masculine than average men.
As everyone has noticed.
The brain is an expensive organ, and so are muscles and testicles. I theorize that nerds have not undergone purifying selection. IQ has its advantages and they have taken a shortcut.
@VI
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the dose of T in these 2 events is negatively correlated. High IQ men are noticeably less physically masculine than average men.”
T is a two-way street; the behaviors that are caused by T also cause T to rise. The super high IQ guys just don’t fit in normal society – by definition – so they don’t have the experience of winning, socially.
I prescribe a progressive weight-lifting program (check out Back-Loading by Dangerously Hardcore http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/nutrition/carb-back-loading/
and cross-ref w/ hunter-gatherer typical day), and Game.
Selective Breeding for a Behavioral Trait Changes Digit Ratio
Absract
The ratio of the length of the second digit (index finger) divided by the fourth digit (ring finger) tends to be lower in men than in women. This 2D:4D digit ratio is often used as a proxy for prenatal androgen exposure in studies of human health and behavior. For example, 2D:4D ratio is lower (i.e. more “masculinized”) in both men and women of greater physical fitness and/or sporting ability. Lab mice have also shown variation in 2D:4D as a function of uterine environment, and mouse digit ratios seem also to correlate with behavioral traits, including daily activity levels. Selective breeding for increased rates of voluntary exercise (wheel running) in four lines of mice has caused correlated increases in aerobic exercise capacity, circulating corticosterone level, and predatory aggression. Here, we show that this selection regime has also increased 2D:4D. This apparent “feminization” in mice is opposite to the relationship seen between 2D:4D and physical fitness in human beings. The present results are difficult to reconcile with the notion that 2D:4D is an effective proxy for prenatal androgen exposure; instead, it may more accurately reflect effects of glucocorticoids, or other factors that regulate any of many genes.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528935/
“How does it happen that fetuses are exposed to high T-levels in the womb? Does it mean that the women bearing them tend to be more masculine and probably have more masculine physical characteristics? ”
Despite having read a number of times how fetuses being exposed to higher levels of T in the womb; I have yet to read an explanation anywhere as to how or why this happens.
Is the mother predisposed to produce more or higher levels of T , particularly during pregnancy?
Are there other dietary, environmental, genetic factors involved?
Perhaps while the fetus is developing, if the mother is continuing to have sex with the father, he is contributing T via his semen? As it would kind of make sense that an already Alpha or high T father would continue to want to have sex with woman well into pregnancy.
Simon Baron-Cohen’s work on autism is interesting in respect to this. His theory is that high prenatal exposure of T may hypermasculinize brain development in a manner that promotes an excessively systematic cognitive style while hindering empathic skills. Correlation doesn’t imply causation but he found a relationship between androgen-related genes and autistic traits a bit ago, so it looks like it could be a viable explanation.
Too much of a good thing…
Correction:
Despite having read a number of times how fetuses being exposed to higher levels of T in the womb lead to more masculine characteristics.
Mr. C:
“Despite having read a number of times how fetuses being exposed to higher levels of T in the womb; I have yet to read an explanation anywhere as to how or why this happens.”
A male fetus has testicles.
“A male fetus has testicles.”
The effect of “higher levels of testosterone” in the womb on the developing fetus also affects the female fetus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digit_ratio
Furthermore, if it is the testicles of the male fetus in the womb that are producing the Testosterone then the use of the phrase “exposed to” is incorrect and should read;
“the amount of Testosterone that the fetus in the womb produces”
If testosterone is correlated with IQ, is it possible to deduce that high IQ men have higher testosterone levels?
High fat, moderate protein diet for mum would give the best chances for a kid. In other words a diet high in fatty red meat.
“samseau
But if Genius’s have so much testosterone, why do they suck so badly with women?”
I think this is just a myth. It’s the nerd who have problems with females, and they more often than not are not that intelligent, they are just socially incompetent and obsessed over some trivial shit.
“Trolland
This explains negro intelligence.”
Possible explanations:
1-testosterone makes human beings smarter, and blacks are not the same species as human beings
2-maybe blacks have not more testosterone than whites. We should fetch the study and see if they maybe had some other type of excess testosterone- maybe free testosterone. Having more free testosterone is basically useless and counter productive
3-maybe there is something as too much testosterone
4-there is some other factor that in blacks contributes to less intelligence overall. It is possible that a negro with more testosterone is smarter than a negro with less testosterone.
Fact: The northeast asian is the race with the lowest levels of testosterone and the highest IQ. They are also considerered the most beta. The african is just the opposite.
Many genes affect G. The testosterone in the womb isn’t THE cause of higher or lower IQ, it’s the contributor to how male the brain is. And male brains are smarter, and at the extremes also less socially adept. Female brains at the extreme are schizo.
There is also a gene that just makes your head bigger. Geniuses usually have that one, and it’s not a widespread gene in Africa.
No sir I don’t buy this one. While I agree that the research is pertinent, more T != genius. More of both is a more likely scenario.
This research is NOT on the right track to acquiring G, its point more towards practiced motivation and courage then G.
Vito says:
May 14, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Fact: The northeast asian is the race with the lowest levels of testosterone and the highest IQ. They are also considerered the most beta. The african is just the opposite.
Masculinization of the brain before and after birth is not necessarily linked to high circulating adult androgen levels.
“Masculinization of the brain before and after birth is not necessarily linked to high circulating adult androgen levels.”
Do you have proof of this claim? This would make no sense at all. I’ve never seen a baby faced man with a low digit ratio act like a high testosterone man or do anything to indicate he has high adult levels. What is high circulating adult levels going to do for you if your brain is that of a female? Sounds counterproductive to give high prenatal T in the womb and low T at puberty and vice versa.
“Sounds counterproductive to give high prenatal T in the womb and low T at puberty and vice versa.”
From my post in moderation:
Too much of anything….
And genius also has to verbalize in order to get the nobel.
http://members.cox.net/jmhoward3/Explanation%20of%20the%20Flynn%20Effect.htm
“I’ve never seen a baby faced man with a low digit ratio act like a high testosterone man or do anything to indicate he has high adult levels.”
huh?
Typo I meant high digit ratio. The point I’m getting at here is the prenatal T makes the brain more masculine. But if one were to have low prenatal T in the womb and then high T at puberty you would have a masculine looking man who doesn’t act very much like a man. High prenatal T in the womb and low T at puberty and you have a masculine acting man who doesn’t look anything like a man.
Seems counterproductive indeed. I’d wager anyone with a high digit ratio has lower than average T and those with a lower digit ratio have higher than average T levels. The digit ratio is correlated with athletic ability, so why would prenatal T not correlate with one’s current levels?
T is a goddamn enzyme, not a super-system, people. Most it can do is activate what you already got. (Spoiler alert: A large number of sub-Saharan Africans don’t have a certain important IQ gene found in every other race.) Some people have low T but might still be generally masculine if their activation threshold is low enough. A large amount of T basically gives at the very least a raised awareness level for all of one’s faculties.
(“Raise awareness” today! Take testosterone.)
Though if T gets too high, the body will often make estrogen to compensate. Not too good.
And building a high IQ does require T…for the drive. But intellectual development often requires discipline to sit still and learn the basic abstract data structures for it to build on itself. If you can’t sit still, you can’t build, write, game, tinker, study, or ponder at the necessary rate to build your understanding faster than your peers who get bored more easily. Mobile understanding is seldom deep or complete understanding, though it might make you look cool at the moment.
“If testosterone is correlated with IQ, is it possible to deduce that high IQ men have higher testosterone levels?”
Doubt it. Ashkenazim are pretty g-ddamn effeminate. Otto Weininger made some accurate observations on the subject of Jews and women before killing himself.
And on the flip side, Congoids have an abundance of testosterone and a dearth of IQ points.
“who doesn’t act very much like a man.”
And how do men act?
the second link from my post that is still in moderation
http://www.economist.com/node/16004382?story_id=16004382
“I’d wager anyone with a high digit ratio has lower than average T ”
http://www.femininebeauty.info/masculinization-feminization-in-men#comment-3615
@Rosenberg
Has anyone ever met an African in the US? They speak like 5 languages and have multiple degrees. American negros are dumb, but dumb blacks having 10 bastards while a smart one has 2 will dumb down any society look at the south. I sense alot of jealous inadequate types in here. Who wouldnt want a black man’s Testosterone, theres a reason people take steroids. Also the most educated people in america are not europeans and asians its nigerians. Look it up
ashkenazi jews are ruthless and organized with the best networking skills due to 3000 years of existing as a tribe. High IQ? Doubt it, they werent allowed into the US a hundred years ago because they couldnt pass IQ tests
I have a high IQ (north of 170) . I also have had indications of very high testosterone all my life (my voice changing to a bass at age 8, a full beard by 12, balding by 16). As it happens, I also live less than 20 miles from the University of Alberta. Something tells me I should go see professor Mrazik.
I’ve also been pretty much an aspy beta nerd most of my life… until reading The Game and this blog. I’ve only just started applying Game, little by little, and wow, what a difference.
“Also the most educated people in america are not europeans and asians its nigerians.”
Then those educated geniuses ought to back to Nigeria and get to work. That place is a fucking Third World shithole.
“Who wouldnt want a black man’s Testosterone”
Steroid hormones during puberty
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1639961
Evidence for Geographical and Racial Variation in Serum Sex Steroid Levels in Older Men
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/jc.2009-2435v1
Serum Estrogen, But Not Testosterone, Levels Differ between Black and White Men in a Nationally Representative Sample of Americans
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/92/7/2519
“I sense alot of jealous inadequate types in here. ”
Just like the jealous cops who won’t let a brotha earn honest money in peace?
And these scientists must be racist as well for making black males look effiminate with all that woman hormone? I mean, all those racially abused black men in prisons couldn’t be a joke right, right??
Or maybe it really is the racist tropospheric black IQ that keeps the honest brothas from leading a good life.
rosen
Im sure thats what their planning on doing, similar to INdia, which contrary to popular belief, is a huge dump of a country. Maybe your cousins can help them get into the organ harvesting business.
namae nanka
black males are effeminate? Dude just love yourself and youll be fine, stop worrying about others and your irrationality and insecurities will go poof and disappear.
“namae nanka
black males are effeminate? ”
science is racist, deal with it?
I have been a long time hobbyist reader of the affects of testosterone. I do not think that high test = High IQ I think the thing we need to take from this is that high test def influences certain areas regardless of IQ.
For instance, a construction worker who can naturally cut excellent angles on a saw, judge measurement and distance regardless of possibly being a half wit. Those spacial IQ abilities are from the influence of the testosterone dump in the brain.
1. Leadership – controlled aggression and forward thinking = high test (As you know not all leaders are high IQ)
2. Spacial intellegence – testosterone influences spacial awareness, think of a woman parking a car or even a woman driving…regardless of overall IQ the spacial IQ is another set of abilities.
3. Terrain and directional abilities = directly related to testosterone. No matter if the dude never learned to add, he can still probably navigate 10x better without a map to get somewhere than even a woman with a map.
science can be, you can twist anything anyway you want Science disproves itself every day. Some scientist say global warming is real and others say it isnt. THey used to say cigarrettes were not harmful. Next time i go to the gym ill laugh at all the “effeminate” black guys lifting like hulks and jumping half their body height. Id hate for anyone to have to be cursed with such girly ways.
BTW – I think that men with High T and High IQ’s tend to be ruthless business men or high profile crooks.
ruthlessness usually comes from conditioning. Look at asians drive to get into the best schools best grades, or jews cutthroat ways in wall street or court rooms.
“science can be, you can twist anything anyway you want ”
like twisting race and IQ out of existence?
” Id hate for anyone to have to be cursed with such girly ways.”
and I won’t wish your reading comprehension even on my enemies with a cyanide bottle.
I think it’s the other way around, we train otherwise aggressive people to obey laws and authority. Certain breeds of dog are obviously much more aggressive than others but the right person can put them in line. It’s also much easier to do when it’s a puppy.
Chateau, this deserves another post:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4957-hormones-converge-for-couples-in-love.html
So, “children were found to have a higher incidence of short-sightedness and allergies”
I don’t know… when I see a kid with huge glasses and an asthma sprayer in his pocket, I think NERD!
Luvin all the racist comments, alongside all the regular sexist gems. It’s 2011, you morons. Stop staring at your dicks and declaring your testosterone levels, which you can’t possibly know. No wonder you have to have a blog to get laid.
[Editor: Were you wearing pantaloons when you wrote this comment?
a wee tight in the nethers, governor?]
Hey s, I’m getting a strange feeling that you might be an obama supporter.
We are sorry. If we’ve offended your African King lover, DaQuante, please give us the address of his Parole Officer and we’ll send some Cheetos.
It’s the juice that never stops flowing, the mojo that keeps me goin’.
Keeping it testy.
Ed Minchau–
I have high T, am not balding and set a record for a Standard Stanford-Binet IQ test (22 minutes, 100% completion, 100% accuracy) in 1974 for my state–Minnesota. I am well endowed (like my for bearers) and have not had a nerdy impulse since I was 11 years old–the last full year before puberty set in. I was a very aggressive student, however. I liked dancing on the heads of nerds for fun. I also liked to out-compete the jocks. In short, I was a cocky asshole. All of that was helped by taking jui-jitsu lessons starting at age 11–2 hours 5 days of the week, 4 hours on Saturday. I was tough–I mean really tough. I spent 7th grade fighting nearly everyone in the school just off school grounds. roughly 100 fights.
What I’m trying to tell you is that it takes more than just the right amount of “T”. It takes big balls–large brassy ones. Having them translates into everything else in life. It means knowing and thus fully believing, that you are the best there is. It means taking no prisoners–it means going for the throat when f***ed with. It means wining at whatever the cost and it means never ever lying down for anyone (other than your own child) for any reason. It means being arrogant in just the right way–which means you have to be able to back it up.
I suggest reading Rudyard Kipling’s poem–“If”. My mother gave it to me when I was 11 and again at HS graduation. She also gave me “The Sensuous Male” at age 12 as a substitute for the “birds and the bees” talk. Supposedly it was written by Warren Beatty–who was a gigolo before he became a star. Suggest you read both of them, and buy some decent clothes–most nerds (and most guys period now a days) dress like shit.
$500.00 shoes are a start, tailored blazers (men wear blazers, little boys wear T shirts) look great with a pair of blue jeans, better with gaberdine wool or even khakis. fitted shirts with monogrammed cuffs. People dressed like shit in my day too–they called it the poor boy look–why be a sheeple and look like you’re poor? Only low end status seekers dress that way. You’re going for something between Sean Connery and Warren Beatty, but you better believe in yourself first. Women know clothes, they know when some guy is wearing a $1000.00 worth of clothes on his back and when some loser is wearing 100.00 worth. No guffawing either, if you don’t have a killer laugh, then never laugh.
Yeah RobertB, there’s a lot of truth there. It is quite possible that the sample size of high IQ is too small (by definition) to correlate it with anything else reliably.
“Luvin all the racist comments, alongside all the regular sexist gems. It’s 2011, you morons”
Check your fallacies. History is cyclical rather than progressive. It being 2011 doesn’t make some ideas wrong, just suppressed for the time being.
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