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Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

bbc.com

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Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#41

Post by interpol_p »

pfannkuchen wrote: post #33
andy99 wrote: post #16

Saw this earlier today, I think it’s very flawed and ideological, unfortunately other posts mentioning this got flagged. First there’s the idea that “nurturing” is somehow what kids need and better for them automatically, that whatever a stereotypical man does with kids is bad for them, and we need to be rewired by pheromones or whatever to be more sensitive. And as a corollary the idea that a high-T man somehow is a…

[flagged]

Woah. As an adult man with five kids, two of them infants, the most natural thing in the world is for them to be present in almost every second of my life.

It’s not difficult at all. Minutes after birth, naked baby was on my naked chest, and bonding started. This never felt contrary to my instinct.

Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#42

Post by Rodeoclash »

bananaboy wrote: post #22
wj wrote: post #11

I swear my hearing got more sensitive with kids. Also, some commercials hit differently.

I can’t read news stories about something terrible that happened to a child since having kids.

I couldn't watch Black Mirror after having my son.

Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#43

Post by budududuroiu »

rybosome wrote: post #38
andy99 wrote: post #16

Saw this earlier today, I think it’s very flawed and ideological, unfortunately other posts mentioning this got flagged. First there’s the idea that “nurturing” is somehow what kids need and better for them automatically, that whatever a stereotypical man does with kids is bad for them, and we need to be rewired by pheromones or whatever to be more sensitive. And as a corollary the idea that a high-T man somehow is a…

What exactly are you proposing that kids need other than nurturing?

Structure

Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#44

Post by IncreasePosts »

verteu wrote: post #31
syntaxing wrote: post #21

> And the men that had spent longer looking after babies showed the largest drops in testosterone. Those that shared a bed with their infants also had lower levels. Dad here. Maybe…it’s the lack of sleep? Involved fathers tend to have less sleep.

Several of the studies described changes in hormones before the child was born.

If you cosleep with your 8 month pregnant wife she might not be sleeping well and by proximity you may not be sleeping well.

Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#45

Post by tehjoker »

ViscountPenguin wrote: post #20
andy99 wrote: post #16

Saw this earlier today, I think it’s very flawed and ideological, unfortunately other posts mentioning this got flagged. First there’s the idea that “nurturing” is somehow what kids need and better for them automatically, that whatever a stereotypical man does with kids is bad for them, and we need to be rewired by pheromones or whatever to be more sensitive. And as a corollary the idea that a high-T man somehow is a…

There's some interesting research on the effect of T in mice which has been challenging traditional assumptions of its role in males: https://news.emory.edu/stories/2022/08/esc_testosterone_anim... It's worth noting though that the actions of the "stereotypical man" are strongly culturally informed, and not neccessarily indicative of whatever evolutionary pressures would've wired males brains whatever way they're wir…

A lot of ancient cultures were collectivist if small. In some cases, matriarchal, in some cases, sex was "free" because the village owned the kids, and so establishing paternity was not as important because the burden was shared.

Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#46

Post by davorak »

verteu wrote: post #31
syntaxing wrote: post #21

> And the men that had spent longer looking after babies showed the largest drops in testosterone. Those that shared a bed with their infants also had lower levels. Dad here. Maybe…it’s the lack of sleep? Involved fathers tend to have less sleep.

Several of the studies described changes in hormones before the child was born.

Extra time commitment, and therefor missing some sleep, can start before the baby is born.

Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#48

Post by the_gipsy »

pfannkuchen wrote: post #33
andy99 wrote: post #16

Saw this earlier today, I think it’s very flawed and ideological, unfortunately other posts mentioning this got flagged. First there’s the idea that “nurturing” is somehow what kids need and better for them automatically, that whatever a stereotypical man does with kids is bad for them, and we need to be rewired by pheromones or whatever to be more sensitive. And as a corollary the idea that a high-T man somehow is a…

[flagged]

But for women it's natural? How convenient

Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#49

Post by senectus1 »

51yr old father of two (18yr M 16yr F)... I know I'm a biased pool to draw from but my lived experience was noticing how my brain changed when my wife started showing she was pregnant.

I swear I actually noticed it. At times i felt the changes.. it felt similar to the buzz you get when playing a fast paced shootem up game. it wasn't quite a buzz though.

Re: Dad brains: How fatherhood rewires the male mind

#50

Post by jvanderbot »

Not to the direct thesis of the article, but I want to share one absolute 180 I had after having kids.

Before kiddos I took the apriori belief that it would kinda suck. The belief was unassailable because I thought, evolutionarily, if it was fun to have kids it wouldn't be fun to make them - otherwise we'd endure unfun "making" because we know the having would be fun.

I know now how stupid that was on many levels. Just specifically that belief has changed for me: its fun to make kids because having them is self reinforcing and wonderful and intrinsically motivational.

Perhaps I'm a data point.

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