Marriage Tames Genius (and Crime Too)
“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… 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… 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… 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. After a man settles down, the testosterone level falls, as does his creative output.” — News.com.au (Australia)
This study drew from a database of the lives of 280 great scientists and apparently extended its conclusions to other forms of genius — including criminal genius — by way of analogy. While it seems to confirm the Romantic notion that genius is tied up with wildness and violence, the study (or at least this synopsis of it) raises a few obvious objections:
First, if twenty-five percent of geniuses cease making meaningful contributions after marriage, does that not leave another seventy-five percent who continue to innovate? And if so, might it not be possible to draw a conclusion exactly opposite — to wit, that marriage stimulates and prolongs the creativity of the majority of geniuses?
Second, is the cessation of creative activity really due to marriage? Or might it be due to other factors as well? For example, the study grants that two-thirds of scientists make their greatest achievements prior to their mid-thirties — so might the loss of genius just be a matter of getting old? (And even there, you have to wonder how applicable these conclusions are for non-scientists. Artists tend to blossom young, but philosophers tend to do their best work late in their careers — Kant being the best example.)
Third, if creativity and crime are both viewed in a Darwinian light as a form of competition for female resources, then how do you explain the fact that (a) so many (male) artists are gay? and (b) women tend to be the victims of violent crimes? In the first case, you could say that gay men are simply trying to attain glory and impress each other in order to get laid, but if that’s the case then you can’t invoke Darwin. No evolutionary benefit ensues. No one reproduces. And in the second case, it makes little sense to say that men commit crimes against women in order to impress them. If I rape your sister, does it make you want me?
Update. “Pen-pushing rather than falling testosterone levels is the main reason male scientists become less productive as they age, a Launceston scientist believes. Retired University of Tasmania Professor of Aquaculture Nigel Forteath says new research that shows marriage and children dampened scientific endeavour was fanciful… ‘What is reasonably well agreed is that as you get older in your scientific career you find yourself pushing a pen more and more rather than doing the research. In those first years after university you’re far more productive writing papers trying to make a name for yourself, to make your mark. There is an enormous drive to get yourself up there early because in science, you publish or perish…’ ‘I cannot imagine a scientist getting on a horse and going off to save some maiden. They’re far more caught up in a laboratory pouring chemicals,’ he said. ‘I just wonder how many great scientists took any notice of their children whatsoever.’” — The Examiner (Australia)
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