I found interesting this paper by Kanazawa (2004). It proposes that ‘both crime and genius stem from men’s evolved psychological mechanism which compels them to be highly competitive in early adulthood but ‘‘turns off’’ when they get married and have children.’ He thinks testosterone may be one reason for productivity.
This part is particularly moving:
Perhaps the tragic life of the French mathematician Evariste Galois (1811–1832) best illustrates my argument (Singh, 1997, pp. 210–228). Despite the fact that he died at age 20, Galois made a large number of significant contributions to mathematics. (His work was integral to Andrew Wiles’ celebrated proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem in 1994.) Galois was involved in an affair, and the woman’s fiance challenged him to a duel. The night before the duel, Galois stayed up all night and wrote down all of his mathematical ideas on paper. (It is due to these notes, written on the last night of his life, that many of Galois’ ideas survived to the posterity.) From other comments written on the paper, next to a series of mathematical notations, however, it is clear that Galois spent the night, intensely thinking about the woman over whom he was to have a duel the next morning. Something compelled this young man of 20 to produce so many brilliant mathematical ideas in one night and then go to a duel the next morning, ready to kill or be killed over a woman. It is my contention that the same psychological mechanism was responsible for both.
So _IF_ Kanazawa is right, other than staying single and surrounded by desirable partners, what can one do? Well, maybe sports are a good way to pump some testosterone in. It makes sense: many people I know, myself included, feel more productive after exercising. More so if it involves any kind of controlled risk or competitive activities.
Another good thing for testosterone levels: dancing (with a partner).
Point taken
So what about women?
I would sort of disagree with Kanazawa’s conclusion: Galois’ productivity may also stem just from his knowing that his life could very well end the next day, and that anything he wants to leave to this world he should better write up before the morning.
Given this, I am not willing to put my life in danger just to be more productive, so we need to find other ways…
The entire paragraph reveals why chess players of any age make great lovers.
[...] – bookmarked by 4 members originally found by maxxsug on 2008-08-27 Why productivity fades with age: The crime–genius connection [...]
[...] There seem to besome connection between testosterone levels and creativity productivity As posted before. What is new in Christopher Orlet’s post is the impressive list [...]
“It makes sense: many people I know, myself included, feel more productive after exercising. More so if it involves any kind of controlled risk or competitive activities.”
I’m kind of simple when it comes to matters so deep and meaningful. For mine I’ll just take a couple of testo tablets. Quick fix and no pain (in the short term anyway
Mar
Johann, I too ‘would sort of disagree with Kanazawa’s conclusion’ but for a different reason. It seems unlikely that Galois would have been aware of his imminent death; perhaps his compulsion to record his work was exactly that, a mere coincidence. Of course the connection that Christopher identifies between testosterone levels and creative productivity should not be overlooked; however it seems to me that the relationship may be more complex than is suggested by the article. If creative productivity simply diminished in later life how could the existence of great novels by older authors be explained? Dario also makes a valid point; is the trend the same for women?