The testosterone paradox: how sex hormones shape the academic mind

• Main Author: Roy Barzilai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Accademia Piceno Aprutina dei Velati 2019-06-01
• Series: Science & Philosophy
• Subjects: Evolutionary psychology; sex hormones; cultural evolution
• Online Access: http://eiris.it/ojs/index.php/scienceandphilosophy/article/view/453

In my work I argue that sexual differences in the brain seem to shape the ideological gulf between the respective social groups each side represents. And most significantly, it is the male sex hormone testosterone that is the primary hormone affecting our sexual evolution. Not only does testosterone fuel the passion for reproduction and play a critical role in the length of human lives, it is an integral component to the mechanism of human civilization—its triumphs and its tragedies. In order to understand the forces that drive the life cycles of human cultures and form the engine of history, it is important to look at the most fundamental building blocks of human neuroscience. Our hormones are the impetus for our history. Hormones regulate and control the way the human mind perceives the world and forms social organizations and political order accordingly. Hormones drive waves of social mood, shaping the evolution of our social life, the fluctuations of religious doctrines, cultural crusades, and sexual norms.