Testosterone makes people stupid
<p>Yes, testosterone makes people stupid.  No, I&#8217;m not talking about the men who secrete and metabolize it, I&#8217;m talking about the nervous old women of both sexes who pronounce upon it as though it were some sort of demonic drug.</p>
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<p>Latest in this parade of absurdity is a study of the effect of handling guns on male testosterone.  Lurking behind the study is a clear agenda &mdash; the designers wanted to show that guns cause violence.  Jonah Goldberg rightly <a href='http://author.nationalreview.com/latest/?q=MjE5NQ=='>slams</a> this nonsense in National Review Online, reminding us that conservatives may after all be good for something.</p>
<p>I read Jonah&#8217;s column while a shreddin&#8217; track from Joe Satriani&#8217;s new album <cite>Super Colossal</cite> poured out my speakers. Hearing what Satch does on a fretboard definitely raises my testosterone level.  Should we be banning electric guitars for their aggression-inciting effects, now?</p>
<p>The study involved hot sauce, which I&#8217;m pretty sure <a href='http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=79'>raises mens&#8217; testosterone levels too</a>.  Are we to forbid the import of capsicum peppers on this account?</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no end to this sort of silliness, short of recognizing that the people who propagate it are self-panickers who, if the entire planet turned into a brightly colored and harmless Nerf-world tomorrow, would fear their own shadows.</p>
<p>The fault lies not in guitars or hot sauces or testosterone or firearms but in the self-panickers&#8217; tendermindedness and moral infantilism. It&#8217;s &#8220;Mommy!  Mommy! The bad thing made me do it!&#8221; amplified and projected on everyone else.</p>
<p>To which the only counter is two words: <em>Grow up!</em>.</p>
