Sperm Count Zero • Hacker News Board

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#21

Post by scarejunba » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:41 AM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #13

tluyben2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> followed by the bit about men becoming less male. This is pretty obvious without any research (papers). The difference between my generation and our children is already staggering in this regard. Not sure if that's just change in culture or physiological though; maybe a bit of both?

I resisted the urge to joke that this finally explains millenials , because it’s exactly that response which leads to the dismissive reactions this trend is being met with. A couple days ago I shared a NYT article with my wife because it was such a strange window into evolving gender standards [1] and the next day a friend of hers shared another story which took it to a whole new level [2]. I could not help but tie i…

Jesus Christ, #2 sounds dangerously like the parent pushing her viewpoints on the poor kid.

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#22

Post by scarejunba » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:42 AM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #20

seibelj wrote: post #10

Children of Men? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Men

Loosely maybe. The women were going infertile in that movie.

Perhaps A Handmaid's Tale instead. The implication is that women were blamed but the men are the ones going infertile.

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#23

Post by uptown » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:45 AM UTC

agorabinary wrote: post #7

Any other reliable sources on this beyond GQ?

Here's the study:

https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article-abstract/doi/10.1093...

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#24

Post by vonseel » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:48 AM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #13

tluyben2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> followed by the bit about men becoming less male. This is pretty obvious without any research (papers). The difference between my generation and our children is already staggering in this regard. Not sure if that's just change in culture or physiological though; maybe a bit of both?

I resisted the urge to joke that this finally explains millenials , because it’s exactly that response which leads to the dismissive reactions this trend is being met with. A couple days ago I shared a NYT article with my wife because it was such a strange window into evolving gender standards [1] and the next day a friend of hers shared another story which took it to a whole new level [2]. I could not help but tie i…

How do you guys get past paywalls like #2? Seems increasingly more sites have paywalls and I can’t imagine people are subscribing to multiple news providers.

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#25

Post by village-idiot » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:51 AM UTC

Admit it, you went and measured your AGD, didn't you?

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#26

Post by village-idiot » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:51 AM UTC

zxcvvcxz wrote: post #15

Nomentatus wrote: post #14

In mammals generally testosterone levels and photoperiod are very closely linked. It would be surprising if our increasing use (abuse) or artificial light didn't sharply drop our testosterone levels.

Is it that artificial light drops T levels, or is it the lack of sleep? Though admittedly the former often leads to the latter. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110531162142.h...

Pretty much impossible to separate these days.

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#27

Post by village-idiot » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:53 AM UTC

EADGBE wrote: post #19

If we’re reducing the count over time, do we know if the sperm are simply becoming more effective to counter-act?

Probably depends on the time scale. It's typically very easy to disrupt an existing system, and it takes a very long time for evolution to respond.

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#28

Post by village-idiot » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:54 AM UTC

zxcvvcxz wrote: post #5

>“What you are seeing in a number of systems, other developmental systems, is that the sex differences are shrinking,” Swan told me. Men are producing less sperm. They're also becoming less male. Is it possible that these phenomena relate to the seemingly explosive rise in transgenderism? Particularly MtF, which is much more common than the reverse. Perhaps for those with already low male:female hormone ratios, if th…

I've always wondered that.

It would be quite difficult to determine if transgenderism is more common now than it once was, or if we're more open to recognizing and helping people who are transgendered.

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#29

Post by village-idiot » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:57 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #11

zxcvvcxz wrote: post #5

>“What you are seeing in a number of systems, other developmental systems, is that the sex differences are shrinking,” Swan told me. Men are producing less sperm. They're also becoming less male. Is it possible that these phenomena relate to the seemingly explosive rise in transgenderism? Particularly MtF, which is much more common than the reverse. Perhaps for those with already low male:female hormone ratios, if th…

Makes me wonder if there are any "endocrine disruptors" that work in the opposite direction.

All human Zygotes start out as female, and a burst of androgens makes some fetuses develop male sexual characteristics. If those androgens aren't released, the child retains female sexual presentation, even if they have XY chromosomes. As is commonly mentioned, this is why men have nipples even though they're not functional for men.

According to my very weak understanding, it's easier to prevent that from happening than it is to accidentally introduce enough xenoandrogens to cause a XX fetus to develop male sexual characteristics.

Re: Sperm Count Zero

#30

Post by MaxGabriel » Sun, Sep 09, 2018, 2:59 AM UTC

scarejunba wrote: post #22

tyingq wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Loosely maybe. The women were going infertile in that movie.

Perhaps A Handmaid's Tale instead. The implication is that women were blamed but the men are the ones going infertile.

It’s both in that book. Otherwise the commanders’ wives would be able to get pregnant. But it is implied that the commmanders aren’t blamed when they’re the infertile ones.