# Men lose their minds speaking to pretty women **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 4, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880 "2009-09-04T16:45:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/1 "2009-09-04T16:45:20Z")
We all know it, but there’s [scientific confirmation](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6132718/Men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women.html) now: > [@](#): > > The research shows men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an attractive woman perform less well in tests designed to measure brain function than those who chat to someone they do not find attractive. > > Researchers who carried out the study, published in the Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, think the reason may be that men use up so much of their brain function or ‘cognitive resources’ trying to impress beautiful women, they have little left for other tasks. I’d throw in some witty comment here, but the women in the picture accompanying the article are very pretty, so… ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/2 "2009-09-04T17:49:00Z")
So, perhaps, if you think that all men are idiots, it’s just that you are pretty! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/3 "2009-09-04T17:57:18Z")
I don’t buy it for a second. It’s utter bull. I mean, a really attractive woman just walked buy an i arnt afekted won dfpor. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/4 "2009-09-04T17:58:21Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > So, perhaps, if you think that all men are idiots, it’s just that you are pretty! Oh, I’m not _that_ good looking. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/5 "2009-09-04T18:03:55Z")
Hmm. My manager is a very attractive woman my age who likes wearing low-cut blouses to work. I think I have a new excuse for my recent lack of productivity. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/6 "2009-09-04T18:12:44Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Hmm. My manager is a very attractive woman my age who likes wearing low-cut blouses to work. I think I have a new excuse for my recent lack of productivity. True story: Back in the stone ages I was sitting in a lecture hall, when I heard the boy next to me breathing loudly, almost snoring, and then he began to lean over enough that he was brushing against me slightly. I looked at him, and saw him hunched down a bit with his head turned down. I laughed inside and thought, “Ha, he’s sleeping in class.” Then I looked up at his face to discover his eyes were wide open, and he was staring down my shirt! :eek: I shoved him and said, “In your own seat, please.” I’m not sure if he was staring down my shirt the entire time, or if he had just woken up and found himself in an unfortunate position, but either way it’s pretty funny. Funny now, that is. At the time, I was quite miffed. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/7 "2009-09-04T18:14:16Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Oh, I’m not _that_ good looking. ffop sdpk [a][sp][ k opf dp? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/8 "2009-09-04T18:19:06Z")
Who the hell is it that’s doing all these studies? More importantly, why didn’t I think of this when I was coming up with my dissertation? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/9 "2009-09-04T18:41:36Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Oh, I’m not _that_ good looking. Well…for a mean old lady, you’re alright. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/10 "2009-09-04T18:55:27Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > Who the hell is it that’s doing all these studies? Absolute bloody geniuses, that’s who. They found an excuse to hang out with hot babes, get their names in the paper, and probably got paid for it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/11 "2009-09-04T19:01:24Z")
And as long as they put pictures of the hot babes in their dissertation, and the Ph.D. defense committee was mostly male, nobody retained enough IQ points to criticize. Genius, I’m telling you! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/12 "2009-09-04T19:02:23Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Absolute bloody geniuses, that’s who. They found an excuse to hang out with hot babes, get their names in the paper, and probably got paid for it. Well, they probably came up with the idea \*before \*they mingled with said hot babes. Another one for the Scientific Journal of the Bleeping Obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/13 "2009-09-04T19:08:45Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Another one for the Scientific Journal of the Bleeping Obvious. I believe it’s from the journal _Duh!_ ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/14 "2009-09-04T19:10:56Z")
What I want to know is, do women go dumb (both meanings) in the presense of hunks? What about lesbians? ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/15 "2009-09-04T19:57:26Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > What I want to know is, do women go dumb (both meanings) in the presense of hunks? What about lesbians? They did the women part. Nothing happened. ---
**Author:** ![silvermist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@silvermist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silvermist)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/16 "2009-09-04T23:42:09Z")
What I want to know is, do women go dumb (both meanings) in the presense of hunks? Yes, they do. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/17 "2009-09-05T00:06:39Z")
> [@silvermist](#): > > What I want to know is, do women go dumb (both meanings) in the presense of hunks? > > Yes, they do. Apparently not, according to this study at least. ---
**Author:** ![SylverOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/18 "2009-09-05T00:21:27Z")
> [@silvermist](#): > > What I want to know is, do women go dumb (both meanings) in the presense of hunks? > > Yes, they do. Female checking in… I either get tongue-tied or I start to babble in the presence of my very good looking\* chiropractor. I can hear myself blathering on, and I cringe inwardly, because I know I sound like an idiot, but I can’t seem to help it. And what really pisses me off is the fact that it’s not like I’m some giggling highschool girl who’s suffering through her first crush… I’m 33 and have been married to a wonderful man for 7 years!! :smack: [sub]\*Hello!! He’s freaking hot!![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/19 "2009-09-05T02:27:44Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Well, they probably came up with the idea \*before \*they mingled with said hot babes. Nah, it was after (probably **much** after, when the brain power came back): > [@](#): > > Psychologists at Radboud University in The Netherlands carried out the study after one of them was so struck on impressing an attractive woman he had never met before, that he could not remember his address when she asked him where he lived. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880/20 "2009-09-05T03:08:21Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Apparently not, according to this study at least. Yeah, but read the fine print. The hotties, male and female, used as experimental props were all members of the research team. Maybe the research team had some total babes, and some superdorky guys. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women/508880.md?page=2)