the sickness of the male human mind
Before any of you men out there start saying I am discriminating against you by not including the female mind, lets all stop and think about an article we saw on television or read in the papers last night, last week, last month, last year. Or while we're at it, how about a story we read in the history books about an event from one hundred, or a thousand years ago...
“Ok, what sort of story?” I can hear you asking. Well, how about a story of violence, oppression, genocide, hatred, division of people, religious persecution, extremism, desire, greed, ambition, status, robbery, murder, arson, power, anger, rage... Shall I go on?
“Yeah, but you can't blame all the men for that! Women have done all those things too!” You scream out in indignation at reading what I have just written. But hang on. We may not like hearing all those nasty things about ourselves, and yes some women have done some things of equal magnitude to their male counterparts. But given the statistics, I think we would all have to admit that us blokes (yes, I am a male and not a left wing, feminist) have got a few things to answer for!
As males, we are quite an angry lot. We fight in pubs, start wars, attempt to control anyone we come across – including our wife and children whom we love dearly of course. You see, as males, we are a pretty smart lot. We know what's best for everyone. We have everyone's best interest at heart. Don't we boys?
“But we are naturally aggressive, we are leaders, we are alpha males...”
But hang on, most of you wouldn't usually count yourself as part of the animal kingdom! You would tell me you are “part of homo sapiens, the most intelligent species on the planet.” So it's a fairly weak argument, don't you think?
So what's going on? Why do we beat up others (females included), start wars, start religions, and constantly want to be the boss? Why do we think we are the best? Why do we join criminal gangs, and rob banks? Why do we want to drive faster than anyone else on the road? Why do we crave excitement? Why do we want to climb mountains? Why do we want recognition for everything we do?
I can hear you all get a little hot under the collar, ranting about I've got a cheek talking to you all like this, and that maybe I might be like this, but it doesn't mean you're all like this! And ok, I did have a speedboat, broke the speed limit by as much as possible every minute of the day, jumped off bridges in canoes, wanted to be recognised as a high acheiver, and tried to bed any willing female! Ok, I admit I am not perfect, but fortunately never hurt anyone (physically at least), or went to war, or started a religious or political organisation.
So what is happening inside the mind? What processes are taking place in the male human mind?
Let's get fired up on testosterone!
I am not a scientist, but it seems that this little chemical has quite a few mischievous tricks up its sleeve! Could testosterone be the real cause of all the violence, and war in the world? Surely not! Surely it must be more complicated than that. Surely, the reason for male violence is to do with the way they were brought up by their family, the environment they lived in, their choices of friends, and other external influences? Surely, if testosterone were to blame then everyone would be running around killing everyone else, instead of the relatively small number of violent people in the world? What do you think? But there does seem to be something going on with testosterone! And people's capability or desire for violence does seem to tail off towards the end of their life, as testosterone diminishes.
Some of you must be starting to think that I hate men, but that cannot be true, or I would have to hate myself! I just want to explore why men seem to be responsible for most of the world's troubles for the past 10,000 years!
But I want to give men a break for now, because alongside all the violence, they have been quite a creative lot. Always pushing new boundaries. Always trying to improve their lot (sorry, and the lot of others). So maybe all the violence is just a by-product of creativity! After all, violence can get quite creative – just look at all the instruments of torture that have been invented! But on a brighter note... Sorry, is there one?
I think it's time we men woke up to the fact that we have been causing most of the problems in the world for as long as we have been around! It is time we started to become aware of ourselves. It is time we started to delve deep into ourselves, and find love and compassion for all. It is time we made a huge shift in our minds – before we end up destroying everything on the planet including ourselves.
Can we do it? Well, we are one part of the most intelligent species on the planet! Of course we can.
“Ok, what sort of story?” I can hear you asking. Well, how about a story of violence, oppression, genocide, hatred, division of people, religious persecution, extremism, desire, greed, ambition, status, robbery, murder, arson, power, anger, rage... Shall I go on?
“Yeah, but you can't blame all the men for that! Women have done all those things too!” You scream out in indignation at reading what I have just written. But hang on. We may not like hearing all those nasty things about ourselves, and yes some women have done some things of equal magnitude to their male counterparts. But given the statistics, I think we would all have to admit that us blokes (yes, I am a male and not a left wing, feminist) have got a few things to answer for!
As males, we are quite an angry lot. We fight in pubs, start wars, attempt to control anyone we come across – including our wife and children whom we love dearly of course. You see, as males, we are a pretty smart lot. We know what's best for everyone. We have everyone's best interest at heart. Don't we boys?
“But we are naturally aggressive, we are leaders, we are alpha males...”
But hang on, most of you wouldn't usually count yourself as part of the animal kingdom! You would tell me you are “part of homo sapiens, the most intelligent species on the planet.” So it's a fairly weak argument, don't you think?
So what's going on? Why do we beat up others (females included), start wars, start religions, and constantly want to be the boss? Why do we think we are the best? Why do we join criminal gangs, and rob banks? Why do we want to drive faster than anyone else on the road? Why do we crave excitement? Why do we want to climb mountains? Why do we want recognition for everything we do?
I can hear you all get a little hot under the collar, ranting about I've got a cheek talking to you all like this, and that maybe I might be like this, but it doesn't mean you're all like this! And ok, I did have a speedboat, broke the speed limit by as much as possible every minute of the day, jumped off bridges in canoes, wanted to be recognised as a high acheiver, and tried to bed any willing female! Ok, I admit I am not perfect, but fortunately never hurt anyone (physically at least), or went to war, or started a religious or political organisation.
So what is happening inside the mind? What processes are taking place in the male human mind?
Let's get fired up on testosterone!
I am not a scientist, but it seems that this little chemical has quite a few mischievous tricks up its sleeve! Could testosterone be the real cause of all the violence, and war in the world? Surely not! Surely it must be more complicated than that. Surely, the reason for male violence is to do with the way they were brought up by their family, the environment they lived in, their choices of friends, and other external influences? Surely, if testosterone were to blame then everyone would be running around killing everyone else, instead of the relatively small number of violent people in the world? What do you think? But there does seem to be something going on with testosterone! And people's capability or desire for violence does seem to tail off towards the end of their life, as testosterone diminishes.
Some of you must be starting to think that I hate men, but that cannot be true, or I would have to hate myself! I just want to explore why men seem to be responsible for most of the world's troubles for the past 10,000 years!
But I want to give men a break for now, because alongside all the violence, they have been quite a creative lot. Always pushing new boundaries. Always trying to improve their lot (sorry, and the lot of others). So maybe all the violence is just a by-product of creativity! After all, violence can get quite creative – just look at all the instruments of torture that have been invented! But on a brighter note... Sorry, is there one?
I think it's time we men woke up to the fact that we have been causing most of the problems in the world for as long as we have been around! It is time we started to become aware of ourselves. It is time we started to delve deep into ourselves, and find love and compassion for all. It is time we made a huge shift in our minds – before we end up destroying everything on the planet including ourselves.
Can we do it? Well, we are one part of the most intelligent species on the planet! Of course we can.
