Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 148 posts

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

#11

Post by AndrewKemendo »

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 stagnation [2], Obesity Rates [3], Divorce Rates [4]

[1] http://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways-...

[2] http://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/

[3] http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2015/11/20/6358359882436...

[4] http://www.stateofourunions.org/2009/si-divorce.php

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

#12

Post by oculusthrift »

nextstep wrote: post #10
chrisreichel wrote: post #7

I was surprised to see Brazil, Chile and Mexico categorized as 'Non-Western countries'.

Yeah I saw that too... I don’t understand. Is Western a political definition?

The term 'west' outdates the discovery of America and no longer has anything to do with Geography. It used to mean western Europe. Now it essentially means western Europe, canada, australia, and america. All of which have cultural roots in Western europe and liberalism etc.

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

#13

Post by yters »

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…

1965 is when birth control pills became legal.

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

#14

Post by ekianjo »

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 there a direct correlation between sperm count and appearance though? Its probably more relevant to consider testosterone.

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

#15

Post by ovao »

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?

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

#16

Post by algesten »

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.

In the 1700s castratis were quite popular throughout Europe. Does that mean they had low sperm count then, or was it just something people liked?

I really don't believe you can explain cultural phenomenon through medical science.

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

#17

Post by firasd »

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…

Well as for obesity rates (besides other factors) my understanding is that around the 70s governments decided that dietary fat and cholesterol was the primary cause of heart attacks and the side effect is that people significantly increased their carb intake.

Edit: As for the wealth inequality thing, plenty of people have written about what changed in the 1970s onwards. Deregulation, free trade, workers' unions fading out...

Post reply on HN