Marriage turns genius off like a tap.

Here is the original paper [PDF]: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/MES/pdf/JRP2003.pdf

A very important article for any aspiring young man.

I've always been the type that in order for me to learn something, I adopt a pet project. It brings context to the concepts.

I can remember staying the night at my girlfriend's apartment (she's now my wife). We enjoyed each others company. But when she would fall asleep, I would hop on to her computer and begin working on my own projects.

And she use to complain, in fact, get extremely angry that I was up "typing away" and that I needed to come to bed. My contention is that she's asleep so why should she care? I finally said, "Get over yourself. I have enjoyed working on late projects before I met you and will continue to do so for the rest of my life. Programming is my life. Deal with it."

And after a few fights and with me not backing down, it was no longer an issue.

The point of the story; if something is important to you, grow some balls and stand up for it.

To make a broad generalization, women have a tendency to put the relationship before anything else. But if in your world coding is just as important as cuddling, speak up and stand your ground.

Relationships and intellectual development do not have to be mutually exclusive.

According to the findings in the paper: Yes, it will to at least some degree. Testosterone increases after a divorce and therefore so does competitive effort and overall productivity (Genius + Effort = Productivity)

1) Einstein ended up getting divorced over his work. Is it worth it?

2) Sex is exhausting. Having it regularly is the real issue.

My startup cofounder is my wife. Things are going splendidly. Generalizations are pretty useless in making decisions for your own life.