“Why men get moody’

This posting is in response to an utterly nonsense article posted at SMH Online Blogs. See http://blogs.smh.com.au/lifestyle/asksam/archives/2007/12/why_men_get_moody_1.html?page=fullpage. A more pertinent article would be ‘Why do writers give credence to every piece of scientific nonsense?’ Because taking any topical issue that will have a universal audience will sell advertising. Because journalists are often recruited without critical thinking skills. Because critical thinking is perceived as negative. Trite articles are regarded as entertaining. They don’t marginalize people…they are popular.
OR another theme to explore "How does utter nonsense research get financed". You guessed it! Governments and the idiots that run them.
In the meantime my girlfriend is left wondering why we argued last night. So darling, I wrote this post just for you….and anyone else who wants the question answered! Love you! Want to make up sexy!
Response
Men are moody for reasons. So are women, though they are hyper-sensitive with regularity because of PMS. Men too can become hyper-sensitive if they have accumulated a lot of accumulated stress (tolerance), but there is an incident-weighted cause, as opposed to the biochemical factor for women. The extent to which men will be generous (or tolerant) of a women’s idiosyncrasies depends on:
1. Success: The extent to which a man is happy with their level of achievement for the day, and the extent to which that question is currently playing on their mind. Succes is important to men. Don’t bitch to men when they feel inadequate.
2. Understanding Priorities: The extent to which, and the way that women interrupt with a man’s priorities will lead to moodiness. We all have a hierarchy of values, and our partners rank highly, but we expect them to understand our needs as we should understand and respect theirs. If we don’t, then that is a daily stressor. The duration and timing of our disruptions will cause stress, the amount depending on the context. If women show no understanding, no flexibility, they will get a moody reaction.
3. Respect: The extent to which we respect our partner and their values will be an important factor. Not all relationships are the same. A person who values their partner for superficial reasons (ie. As a trophy) will quickly get stressed out by them. Our level of respect will depend on the extent of or commitment to the relationship, the extent to which we know them, and are capable of understanding them.
4. Physical condition: This is the only factor I can agree with the article on. If you don’t get a balanced diet or enough sleep, then this will increase your irritability.

My ‘distinguished counterpart’ Jed Diamond (the author of the book) argues that moodiness is "a state of hypersensitivity, frustration, anxiety, and anger that occurs in males and is associated with biochemical changes, hormonal fluctuations, stress, and loss of male identity". Nonsense. This of course is an argument that arises from a philosophical view point – in fact the appropriate philosophy for a vegetable (say a carrot). And that after 40 years. The problem with this definition is that he does not differentiate humans – male or female – from plants. Yes we are biochemical, but we are more than that. We are conceptual, we have a much more complex value system, we have choices, we reflect on our self worth.
Wow, such brilliant insights, and it came from my general knowledge and took me just 30mins to write. Didn’t need to interview 10,000 people or conduct 40 years of research to pretend I know something like this empiricist with no respect for conceptual science. Hmm…sounds like some country is wasting a lot of money on dubious academic studies.
The reason we get dubious science like this is because many scientists have an utterly tragic philosophical undercurrent to their thinking. Its why psychologists often have different ideas, and the journalistic world just treats them like different theories, as though they have equal merit, as if there was no objectivity, as if scientific inquiry was an illusion. Its actually amazing how intelligible and easy wisdom comes if you have the right philosophical base. What seems as complex theory to one person is self-evident to this critic of the over-paid, unaccountable establishment.