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Dave Barry: We've got the dirt on guy brains
The Miami Herald ^ | Sun, Nov. 23, 2003 | Dave Barry

Posted on 11/24/2003 7:49:14 AM PST by presidio9

I like to think that I am a modest person. (I also like to think that I look like Brad Pitt naked, but that is not the issue here.)

There comes a time, however, when a person must toot his own personal horn, and for me, that time is now. A new book has confirmed a theory that I first proposed in 1987, in a column explaining why men are physically unqualified to do housework. The problem, I argued, is that men -- because of a tragic genetic flaw -- cannot see dirt until there is enough of it to support agriculture. This puts men at a huge disadvantage against women, who can detect a single dirt molecule 20 feet away.

This is why a man and a woman can both be looking at the same bathroom commode, and the man -- hindered by Male Genetic Dirt Blindness (MGDB) -- will perceive the commode surface as being clean enough for heart surgery or even meat slicing; whereas the woman can't even see the commode, only a teeming, commode-shaped swarm of bacteria. A woman can spend two hours cleaning a toothbrush holder and still not be totally satisfied; whereas if you ask a man to clean the entire New York City subway system, he'll go down there with a bottle of Windex and a single paper towel, then emerge 25 minutes later, weary but satisfied with a job well done.

When I wrote about Male Genetic Dirt Blindness, many irate readers complained that I was engaging in sexist stereotyping, as well as making lame excuses for the fact that men are lazy pigs. All of these irate readers belonged to a gender that I will not identify here, other than to say: Guess what, ladies? There is now scientific proof that I was right.

This proof appears in a new book titled What Could He Be Thinking? How a Man's Mind Really Works. I have not personally read this book, because, as a journalist, I am too busy writing about it. But according to an article by Reuters, the book states that a man's brain ''takes in less sensory detail than a woman's, so he doesn't see or even feel the dust and household mess in the same way.'' Got that? We can't see or feel the mess! We're like: ``What snow tires in the dining room? Oh, those snow tires in the dining room.''

And this is only one of the differences between men's and women's brains. Another difference involves a brain part called the ''cingulate gyrus,'' which is the sector where emotions are located. The Reuters article does not describe the cingulate gyrus, but presumably in women it is a structure the size of a mature cantaloupe, containing a vast quantity of complex, endlessly recalibrated emotional data involving hundreds, perhaps thousands of human relationships; whereas in men it is basically a cashew filled with NFL highlights.

In any event, it turns out that women's brains secrete more of the chemicals ''oxytocin'' and ''serotonin,'' which, according to biologists, cause humans to feel they have an inadequate supply of shoes. No, seriously, these chemicals cause humans to want to bond with other humans, which is why women like to share their feelings. Some women (and here I am referring to my wife) can share as many as three days' worth of feelings about an event that took eight seconds to actually happen. We men, on the other hand, are reluctant to share our feelings, in large part because we often don't have any. Really. Ask any guy: A lot of the time, when we look like we're thinking, we just have this low-level humming sound in our brains. That's why, in male-female conversations, the male part often consists entirely of him going ''hmmmm.'' This frustrates the woman, who wants to know what he's really thinking. In fact, what he's thinking is, literally, ``hmmmm.''

So anyway, according to the Reuters article, when a man, instead of sharing feelings with his mate, chooses to lie on the sofa, holding the remote control and monitoring 750 television programs simultaneously by changing the channel every one-half second (pausing slightly longer for programs that feature touchdowns, fighting, shooting, car crashes or bosoms) his mate should not come to the mistaken conclusion that he is an insensitive jerk. In fact, he is responding to scientific biological brain chemicals that require him to behave this way for scientific reasons, as detailed in the scientific book What Could He Be Thinking? How a Man's Mind Really Works, which I frankly cannot recommend highly enough.

In conclusion, no way was that pass interference.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous; Political Humor/Cartoons
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1 posted on 11/24/2003 7:49:15 AM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9
Not true! The male brain also contains all 134 episodes of "Stargate SG-1"!
2 posted on 11/24/2003 8:02:37 AM PST by pabianice
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To: pabianice
Not true! The male brain also contains all 134 episodes of "Stargate SG-1"!

And... can categorize every difference between Richard Dean Anderson's portrayal of Col. Jack O'Neil and Kurt Russel's portrayal of the same character in the movie!

3 posted on 11/24/2003 8:15:53 AM PST by cuz_it_aint_their_money
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To: pabianice
The male brain also contains all 134 episodes of "Stargate SG-1"!

I too, have experienced this phenomena.

4 posted on 11/24/2003 8:21:48 AM PST by Ol' Sox
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To: pabianice
134? what I missed one! now I have to watch them all from the begining to see which one. (/s)
5 posted on 11/24/2003 8:23:28 AM PST by longtermmemmory
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To: cuz_it_aint_their_money
and name every episode by title and yet forget the aniversary of the first time you kissed your future wife.
6 posted on 11/24/2003 8:28:22 AM PST by longtermmemmory
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To: longtermmemmory
The male memory problem is well documented:

"Men forget everything; women remember everything."

"That's why men need instant replays in sports. They've already forgotten what happened."

http://www.lifeisajoke.com/menvwomen46_html.htm

7 posted on 11/24/2003 8:39:58 AM PST by proust
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To: presidio9
What snow tires in the dining room? Oh, those snow tires in the dining room.''

Snow tires- hell.....Try Honda dirt bike

8 posted on 11/24/2003 8:47:48 AM PST by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
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To: presidio9
This article is absolutely ridiculous. Why of course men have "feelings".

Right now it's lunch time and I'm feeling hungry.

9 posted on 11/24/2003 9:05:15 AM PST by Gritty
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To: presidio9
In conclusion, no way was that pass interference.

Sorry Dave, not only was it interference, but it was also holding. (heh, heh)
10 posted on 11/24/2003 10:07:29 AM PST by tang-soo
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To: cateizgr8
ping! ping! ping!
11 posted on 11/24/2003 10:30:53 AM PST by Britton J Wingfield (TANSTAAFL)
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To: pabianice
Wow! Thanks! Almost forgot! 5 episodes in a row and the Sci-Fi Channel tonight.
12 posted on 11/24/2003 10:37:21 AM PST by CaptRon
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To: cuz_it_aint_their_money
And... can categorize every difference between Richard Dean Anderson's portrayal of Col. Jack O'Neil and Kurt Russel's portrayal of the same character in the movie!

and note the similarties of how Michael Shanks plays Daniel Jackson the same way James Spader plays Daniel Jackson.
13 posted on 11/24/2003 10:41:07 AM PST by KevinDavis (Let the meek inherit the Earth, the rest of us will explore the stars!)
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To: presidio9
That's why, in male-female conversations, the male part often consists entirely of him going ''hmmmm.'' This frustrates the woman, who wants to know what he's really thinking. In fact, what he's thinking is, literally, ``hmmmm.''

LOL... ain't this the truth!

Sighs~ if only the women would wise up to the fact that we really are the simple, uncomplicated beings we claim to be.

All too often though, the response to the "hmmmm" is more like "Ah-ha! By that you mean...[fill in the whacky interpretation here]"

I always do my very best to speak as succinctly as possible, without any shading of meaning whatsoever, in the vain attempt that this simple approach will make me understood, but alas, not in my lifetime!

14 posted on 11/24/2003 10:41:41 AM PST by Kenton
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To: Kenton
Sighs~ if only the women would wise up to the fact that we really are the simple, uncomplicated beings we claim to be.

The hardest skill for me to develop, but the one that more than any other than saved my marriage, was the ability to gaze into my wife's eyes as she spoke to me and respond sufficiently to conceal the fact that I was listening to every word coming out of the TV set  with no comprehension whatever of what she was saying.
15 posted on 11/24/2003 10:53:54 AM PST by gcruse (http://gcruse.typepad.com/)
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To: gcruse
Sincerity is the hardest thing to fake.
16 posted on 11/25/2003 2:56:15 PM PST by watchin
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To: presidio9
I love writers.
17 posted on 11/25/2003 3:02:29 PM PST by patton (I wish we could all look at the evil of abortion with the pure, honest heart of a child.)
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To: presidio9
hmmmmm
18 posted on 11/25/2003 3:03:05 PM PST by gorush
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To: presidio9
``What snow tires in the dining room? Oh, those snow tires in the dining room.''

But they're new snow tires! They still got the labels on 'em! How could they be dirty? They haven't been on the road yet!

19 posted on 11/25/2003 3:09:07 PM PST by uglybiker (The only thing Democrats contributed to Bush's tax cut package was the word "TAX')
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To: pabianice
Not true! The male brain also contains all 134 episodes of "Stargate SG-1"!

Not to mention the entire diaologue of "Monty Python and The Holy Grail", The origional series of "Star Trek" and certain episodes of "Star Trek Voyager" (the ones after Jerri Ryan joined the series....hmmmmmmmm).

20 posted on 11/25/2003 3:14:21 PM PST by uglybiker (The only thing Democrats contributed to Bush's tax cut package was the word "TAX')
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