Althouse: Come on, guys! Take the nasal spray that will help you care about other people

April 30, 2010

Come on, guys! Take the nasal spray that will help you care about other people — like women do!

Some scientists "found that inhaling the 'cuddle hormone' oxytocin made men just as empathetic as women."

Empathy, eh? So Obama didn't have to appoint the "wise Latina." We could have male judges and spray hormones up their noses.

42 comments:

LordSomber said...: Aren't there enough manginas as it is?; 4/30/10, 10:17 AM
Anonymous said...: So there's like this spray? That, if I squirted it up my nose, it would make me empathize with other people? Like, as much as Rielle empathized with Elizabeth?; 4/30/10, 10:30 AM
Original Mike said...: No thanks. I find empathy gets in the way of clear thinking.; 4/30/10, 10:30 AM
Scott said...: "I took my troubles down to Madame Rue
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine

I told her that I was a flop with chics
I've been this way since 1956
She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
She said "What you need is Love Potion Number Nine"

She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She said "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink

I didn't know if it was day or night
I started kissin' everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine"

--Love Potion Number Nine (Lieber/Stoller); 4/30/10, 10:32 AM
Original Mike said...: On the other hand, if it will mitigate my reduced social approachability, well then by all means.; 4/30/10, 10:33 AM
Nels said...: And be miserable whenever I have to spend time with my family? No thanks.; 4/30/10, 10:37 AM
Superdad said...: three or four glasses of whiskey can make a guy pretty empathetic too. Let's bring back everyday drinking (in moderation of course).; 4/30/10, 10:39 AM
X said...: I'd do it, but I just don't care enough to do so.; 4/30/10, 10:44 AM
GMay said...: Next there will be an inhaler to give us the effects of PMS so we can know what real empathy is.; 4/30/10, 10:47 AM
As my whimsy leads me.. said...: I know a few people I'd like to put oxytocin up the noses of. I wonder if it would work as well as the Point of View GUN from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? One of the effects of oxytocin is to promote milk letdown in lactating women. They might have to work some bugs out if they try it on men.

Toy; 4/30/10, 10:51 AM
Unknown said...: You mean this will turn us all into Phil Donahue?

Those death panels may start to look good soon.; 4/30/10, 11:06 AM
KCFleming said...: If Obama uses this nasal inhalant, perhaps we can place the US Constitution within reach, so that he might give a shit about it.; 4/30/10, 11:06 AM
Bryan C said...: It's odd to me that they see "empathy" as leading inevitably to a desire for compromise or friendship.

Far from it. A deep understanding of someone's emotional vulnerabilities and attachments is equally useful for tearing them down. Many women are very good at that, as are some men.; 4/30/10, 11:25 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: No thanks. I find empathy gets in the way of clear thinking.

This is why nature made us the way we are.

SOMEone has to have the ability to take the initiative and kill that nasty gross spider without going ....ick ick ick....and feeling bad about it afterwards.

I don't want a man oozing with empathy and girly emotions. Thank you very much.; 4/30/10, 11:25 AM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: I'll pass.

I forgot my older brother's birthday last week and, y'know guys, big deal? Mailed him a card late and he said thanks.

If I take the spray I'll be hysterical for a month.

And if he takes the spray he won't talk to me for a month.

Ahh, testicles - is there anything they can't do?; 4/30/10, 11:28 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: I have no doubt that this could be counteracted by a dose of testosterone. Or, maybe just some other parts of female behavior.

Part of my problem here is that the female is again being defined as normal, and the male as abnormal.

Nothing against women, but oxytocin didn't put a man on the moon, PCs on all of our desks, win WWII. Rather, testosterone was the primary hormone involved there.; 4/30/10, 12:14 PM
ricpic said...: Women want to be cuddled? According to Game Theory their essential masochism longs for a guy who will treat them like dirt. I'm only the messenger, folks, but Game works.; 4/30/10, 12:15 PM
KCFleming said...: BHO is cuddling with union thugs and Wall Street mercantilists ...too much oxytocin?

Perhaps oxytocin encourages nurturing a newborn, but also allows the lamb to lay down with the lion.; 4/30/10, 12:20 PM
Phil 314 said...: Not to be used by mixed martial arts contestants?; 4/30/10, 12:46 PM
bagoh20 said...: I don't even care about my own feelings. That's real "cruel neutrality".; 4/30/10, 12:50 PM
rhhardin said...: Men would start noticing other men wearing the same outfit.; 4/30/10, 12:50 PM
Original Mike said...: "I don't even care about my own feelings."

Neither do I.; 4/30/10, 1:08 PM
muddimo said...: LOL, get a group of women together and introduce the topic of another woman (not present). Sit back and watch the empathy flow.; 4/30/10, 1:13 PM
HKatz said...: According to Game Theory their essential masochism longs for a guy who will treat them like dirt.

Odd, I seem to be lacking this "essential masochism" (which according to the above sentence is not just an intrinsic part of women but an independent entity in the woman's psyche that can in and of itself long for certain guys).

I'm for treating guys with respect and being treated with respect in return. My friends seem to feel and behave similarly. Perhaps we're sharing those crazy female hormones and synchronizing the timing of our cycles too.; 4/30/10, 1:15 PM
ricpic said...: I'm for treating guys with respect and being treated with respect in return.

The fly in the above ointment is that it's a rare woman who respects herself. Ergo the attractiveness for women of the cruel man.; 4/30/10, 1:58 PM
Scott said...: Canards are to comments
like school figures are to figure skating.; 4/30/10, 2:15 PM
Scott said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/30/10, 2:15 PM
John Burgess said...: When my son was born, I got hit by a massive does of oxytocin. I happened to be in the middle of a management course on attitudes when he was born and my scores changed dramatically.

At least for a couple of weeks.; 4/30/10, 2:31 PM
HKatz said...: The fly in the above ointment is that it's a rare woman who respects herself.

For sure there are women who lack self-respect, I won't argue with you on that. But how rare is a self-respecting woman? I'm not asking to be facetious; I'm wondering is it in all circles, among all character types, or from all kinds of upbringing and value systems? Is lack of self-respect being properly differentiated from normal human insecurities that people in general feel?

Among guys as well, there are for sure those who struggle with lack of self-respect. Does 'The Game' try to help guys who either have the extreme problem of lack of self-respect, or the less extreme issues of frustration or insecurity? In general, acting in a cruel or arrogant way isn't a good long-term solution for any of that; arrogance and cruelty are weaknesses of character - they ultimately corrupt character and also leave a person vulnerable. It's difficult to confuse arrogance with true self-assurance, with the kind of self-confidence that is real strength.

(But then again I've never read the Game, so I honestly don't know what it tells guys; I'm only going by what you've suggested here.); 4/30/10, 3:08 PM
James Wigderson said...: Will the spray make me hog the blankets like my wife, too?; 4/30/10, 3:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Where is the nasal spray that makes me irrestible to women? Where in the hell is science's values these days? Is there seriously any money in empathy?; 4/30/10, 5:04 PM
GMay said...: "Where is the nasal spray that makes me irrestible to women?"

Same place those x-ray glasses are.; 4/30/10, 5:22 PM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: Same place those x-ray glasses are

Just need to take the flying car to the drug store to pick it up.

And really? Where's my damned flying car? They (?) have been predicting it's arrival for what? a century?

Flying car, spray that drives women hot for you.

Not necessarily in that order.; 4/30/10, 5:37 PM
James Wigderson said...: As long as the spray doesn't make me listen.; 4/30/10, 5:54 PM
TWM said...: Why not just go the easy route and become a lesbian?; 4/30/10, 6:32 PM
KCFleming said...: I never thought oxycontin made women very cuddly at all.; 4/30/10, 6:46 PM
traditionalguy said...: The use of female hormone therapy among the submissive males is not new. It goes back to science o the creation of eunuchs by tyrants at the dawn of history. Why men esire to re-engineer other men all over the world to look powerful is the mystery here.; 4/30/10, 6:48 PM
el polacko said...: maybe i'm just a drug addict, but i'm willing to give this stuff a snort. i've taken a few of the more popular psychotropic pills and have found the 'everything is just fine' state of mind they induce to be pretty pleasant and even fun. being easy-going doesn't necessarily mean surrendering your testicles.; 5/1/10, 4:21 AM
Unknown said...: Would it make going shopping easier?; 5/1/10, 7:00 PM
Hucbald said...: After all these years perfecting the art of not caring?; 5/1/10, 7:42 PM
LonewackoDotCom said...: Speaking about the "wise Latina", the GOP response to her was incredibly inept. Or, at least it was incredibly inept if there goal is what's in the U.S.'s best interest. If their goal is just to avoid problems and work for the GOP, then I guess it was OK.

Rather than doing the smart thing and focusing on her involvement with two far-left groups that support illegal activity (the PRLDEF and the National Council of La Raza), practically the entire GOP/conservative/blogger response was that of an even more befuddled Hannity. And, of course, you had GOP hacks like Orin Kerr who "put up a good fight" against her nomination, if you know what I mean.

Seriously now: she was a member of a group that gave an award to someone who'd proposed genocide. And, despite all that, the GOP incompetents - including major r/w bloggers - were completely unable to even give her a run for her money.

Maybe one day soon the leaders of the supposed opposition to BHO will all give us a break and finally go Galt. Don't worry: we'll make out OK.; 5/1/10, 10:02 PM
Methadras said...: More misandry. When will this stop/; 5/2/10, 8:11 PM