Marriage may tame genius

ABC News ^ | 10 July 2003

[sourcery]

Creative genius and crime express themselves early in men but both are turned off almost like a tap if a man gets married and has children, a study says.

Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, compiled a database of the biographies of 280 great scientists, noting their age at the time when they made their greatest work.

The data remarkably concur with the brutal observation made by Albert Einstein, who wrote in 1942: "A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so."

"Scientific productivity indeed fades with age," Dr Kanazawa says.

"Two-thirds (of all scientists) will have made their most significant contributions before their mid-30s."

But, regardless of age, the great minds who married virtually kissed goodbye to making any further glorious additions to their CV.

Within five years of making their nuptial vows, nearly a quarter of married scientists had made their last significant contribution to history's hall of fame.

"Scientists rather quickly desist (from their careers) after their marriage, while unmarried scientists continue to make great scientific contributions later in their lives," says Dr Kanazawa.

The energy of youth and the dampening effect of marriage, he adds, are also remarkably similar among geniuses in music, painting and writing, as well as in criminal activity.

Previous studies have documented that delinquents are overwhelmingly male, and usually start out on the road to crime in their teens.

But those who marry well, subsequently stop committing crime, whereas criminals at the same age who remain unmarried tend to continue their unlawful careers.

Dr Kanazawa suggests "a single psychological mechanism" is responsible for this: the competitive edge among young men to fight for glory and gain the attention of women.

That craving drives the all-important male hormone, testosterone.

Dr Kanazawa theorises after a man settles down, the testosterone level falls, as does his creative output.

The study appears in in the August issue of the Journal of Research in Personality, published by the Elsevier group.

The British weekly New Scientist reports on it in its upcoming issue on Saturday.

[buccaneer81]

Well, that explains Michael Jackson.

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[MHGinTN]

Uh, What about the creativity of writers? timing and patience?

[D-fendr]

The question remains unasked:

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

[Doctor Stochastic]

Yeah, his marriages really tamed J.S.Bach.

[P-Marlowe]

J.S. Bach was married twice and had twenty children.

[P-Marlowe]

Great minds think alike. :-)

[nmh]

"But, regardless of age, the great minds who married virtually kissed goodbye to making any further glorious additions to their CV. "

With this in mind ... and considering the divorce rate hovers around 50%, WHY then isn't there an epidemic of genuises?

Maybe because a good woman is behind every man - married or not? For as many scientists that are single, many are also married. In short, this is a load of dung.

[nmh]

"Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, compiled a database of the biographies of 280 great scientists, noting their age at the time when they made their greatest work. "

I'd also like to see her list and what she thinks is great. I suspect she is single as well? And looking to rationalize it?

[nmh]

"The data remarkably concur with the brutal observation made by Albert Einstein, who wrote in 1942: "A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so." "

Patently false as well. Many males in particular do BETTER after 30 when they've matured and have some worthwhile experience under their belt. I'd name names however they wouldn't mean much to people here since they may not be as well known, however they make a killing financially.

[Ciexyz]

In John Nash's bio ("A Beautiful Mind" written by Sylvia Nasser), Nash was obsessed by the time constraint of making it in the mathematics world by age 30. When he was denied an important math prize, he felt that his career was tanking. Nash did indeed develop his most important theories concerning game theory in his 20's.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Well, statistically speaking, many mathematicians and physicists do their best work in their 20s, chemists tend to blossom later, biologists in their 40s and geologists even later.

The primary reason is that mathematics and physics lend themselves to in-depth study whereas the other fields the to require lots of experience but less depth. (None of the fields is "harder" or "more fundamental" that the others. Each one asks different questions which may require a different type of knowledge to answer.)

[Ciexyz]

It was universally accepted in the mathematics "world" that if a mathematician hadn't developed a significant and original concept by age thirty, that his mental faculties were in decline (after age 30) and he never would achieve anything of significance.

[nmh]

So, one man that people, don't really care about! I'd bet if you asked five people, you'd be lucky if one heard of him.

I can look at Presidents, some politicians (historical and present) where marriage and children has fared them well. In the scientific community the same is true as well.

[Doctor Stochastic]

I've seen marriage both make and break people. Some people need the freedom of bachelorhood and others do better with the stability and support of marriage.

Neither Brahams nor Beethoven nor Schubert married. Mozart, Wagner (twice but he acted more like a bachelor than Clinton), and Rachmaninoff did.

[Capriole]

It may be true in some fields and not in others, depending upon the type of thought necessary in different areas of study. I know many world-class scientists and though many of them make some excellent contributions in their thirties, they don't get the ball rolling on a lot of great new ideas and make major advances until they're in their forties and even fifties. I am awaiting right now a work by a Dutch theoretical physicist in his fifties--he is said to be one of the world's foremost mathematical minds and the book has been in process for years as he developed the ideas behind it. And, yes, he's married, and yes, he bounces ideas off of his scientist daughters.

In other words, the worker from New Zealand is full of it. She seems not to recognize the inherent bias in her experimental design.

[nmh]

I tend to strongly disagree with this. My spouse is VERY bright. Had big plans for physics. Earned a Phd in it and despite good opportunities really desired marriage and a family. This won out over a loney self absorbed adventure in knowledge. It was the right choice not only financially (physics doesn't pay well) and career wise.

[nmh]

You've echoed truth. It does depend. I believe in the married situation will depend on whether or not the spouse is supportive. When supportive, I'd bet the male will be propelled to leave more or a mark.

[Hostage]

Very nice synopsis. Mathematics like chess requires at times intense focus and concentration. Marriage or financial difficulties can be a major distraction. A good understanding spouse can remedy this tendency.