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Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

nytimes.com

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Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#51

Post by mrep »

lsc wrote: post #47
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14855796 As I said in that thread, this is another statistic that had a rapid and precipitous change starting in the early 1970s. I've stated this elsewhere, but it's like something(s) happened the late 60s/early 70s that totally transformed our world and I have no clue what they were nor can I find anyone who has written about it. Wealth inequality [1], Real Wage stag…

There is an argument that the problems people see with both 'real wage stagnation' and 'increased divorce rates' are really problems caused by measuring the wrong thing. The argument is quite clear when it comes to the divorce rate; Being alone, if financially tenable, is better than being in a bad relationship, so if you make being alone financially tenable for another half of the population, divorce rates will go u…

> women on average make less than men, and thus you will get a lower rate for 'average worker' than for 'average male worker' - even today

I've also heard that is attributable to woman having to bear the brunt of childbirth.

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#52

Post by rtpg »

lsc wrote: post #47
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14855796 As I said in that thread, this is another statistic that had a rapid and precipitous change starting in the early 1970s. I've stated this elsewhere, but it's like something(s) happened the late 60s/early 70s that totally transformed our world and I have no clue what they were nor can I find anyone who has written about it. Wealth inequality [1], Real Wage stag…

There is an argument that the problems people see with both 'real wage stagnation' and 'increased divorce rates' are really problems caused by measuring the wrong thing. The argument is quite clear when it comes to the divorce rate; Being alone, if financially tenable, is better than being in a bad relationship, so if you make being alone financially tenable for another half of the population, divorce rates will go u…

RE your second argument: population increases have always been happening, so why would it only be from the 70s that it would finally depress wage growth?

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#54

Post by Houshalter »

will_brown wrote: post #38
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14855796 As I said in that thread, this is another statistic that had a rapid and precipitous change starting in the early 1970s. I've stated this elsewhere, but it's like something(s) happened the late 60s/early 70s that totally transformed our world and I have no clue what they were nor can I find anyone who has written about it. Wealth inequality [1], Real Wage stag…

As to (3) obesity, one of the most obvious contributing factors is the increased refined sugar consumption. People are poisoning their mind and bodies. And I know it's controversial and since everyone consumes sugar, everyone gets sensitive and defensive. However, in the 60's/70's nonalcoholic fatty liver disease did not exist in children nor did childhood type 2 diabeties, as to the former the first case in children…

This is the common theory but it doesn't really hold up. The weight of lab animals is also increasing. Even though we have records showing they haven't changed their diets or routines significantly. Chimpanzees in particular, the animal most closely related to humans, have increased in weight drastically each decade.

EDIT: Source https://aeon.co/essays/blaming-individuals-for-obesity-may-b...

>As were laboratory macaques, chimpanzees, vervet monkeys and mice, as well as domestic dogs, domestic cats, and domestic and feral rats from both rural and urban areas. In fact, the researchers examined records on those eight species and found that average weight for every one had increased. The marmosets gained an average of nine per cent per decade. Lab mice gained about 11 per cent per decade. Chimps, for some reason, are doing especially badly: their average body weight had risen 35 per cent per decade.

>In fact, lab animals’ lives are so precisely watched and measured that the researchers can rule out accidental human influence: records show those creatures gained weight over decades without any significant change in their diet or activities.

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#55

Post by PrimHelios »

ovao wrote: post #15
hyperdunc wrote: post #4

I've noticed over the last 20 or so years that men in the West, in general, appear increasingly effeminate. I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices. I've long suspected these observations are more than cultural. Recent studies seem to back this intuition.

Effeminate by what attributes?

Western cultural values, I guess.

This seems to be a really weird talking point of the right wing (although I'm not saying that it's only the right, or that hyperdunc is right wing), that people have stopped caring about hyper-masculinity, and it must be caused by hormones and not just a change in cultural values.

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#56

Post by csydas »

verroq wrote: post #46
brian-armstrong wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this sort of pseudoscientific anecdata what passes for discourse on HN now? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - where's yours?

The rate of males identifying as gay has been rising either because of the changing culture, and/or something in the water. Such a statement claiming western men as becoming more effeminate is obvious.

Well homosexuality being more accepted I guess would be a cultural change, yes, but that doesn't mean there are more gay men now than there were before, it means there are more men who are openly gay than there were before. It's a bit hard to tell whether there was an actual increase in gay men due to the known fact that many men hid their sexuality prior to it being more acceptable.

I think this is a far more sensible and defensible position and a simpler explanation than something in water, unless that was a facetious comment.

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#57

Post by zumu »

ovao wrote: post #23
RichardHeart wrote: post #2

Could this be from progress in pornography?

It's a fair question. I don't know of any correlation between an increase in porn-viewing and decreased sperm counts.

From what I understand, regular masturbation can decrease sperm count temporarily. But it will come back to normal within 2-3 days of cessation.

This is what I've found from googling around, but I didn't stumble upon a definitive source. So make of this what you will.

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#58

Post by RealityNow »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #28
hyperdunc wrote: post #4

I've noticed over the last 20 or so years that men in the West, in general, appear increasingly effeminate. I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices. I've long suspected these observations are more than cultural. Recent studies seem to back this intuition.

Is this sort of pseudoscientific anecdata what passes for discourse on HN now? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - where's yours?

Just because he's not referencing a survey or study doesn't make it useless data. Anecdotal data is not useless.

There's been a noticeable increase in effeminate men in NYC over the last 6 years. Maybe it's due to the increased acceptance of LGBT, maybe it's something else...

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#60

Post by seandoe »

imron wrote: post #25
hyperdunc wrote: post #4

I've noticed over the last 20 or so years that men in the West, in general, appear increasingly effeminate. I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices. I've long suspected these observations are more than cultural. Recent studies seem to back this intuition.

> I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices. Male pop stars had really high voices long before 20 years ago - the BeeGees, the Beach Boys, Freddy Mercury are three off the top of my head. I'm sure I could come up with some more if I thought about it for more than 5 seconds.

Not that the op comment has any basis, but singing falsetto or having vocal range has little to do with the high/low-ness of the baseline voice.
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