# shrinkage **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 14, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681 "2004-11-14T07:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jcmkl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@jcmkl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcmkl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/1 "2004-11-14T07:47:24Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpenis.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpenis.html) I think i have an answer to why Jill’s husband’s genitals shrink when he looks over a precipice or startled. It is not that Jill’s husband’s balls are easily scared and they crawl back to the warmth of the body to hide, it is due to a human instinct response. In the autonomous nervous system (ANS) of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), there are two branches of nerves called the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. They work antagonistically (opposite directions) and controls the speed of different body parts. The sympathetic system prepares the body for fight-or-flight responses (when the person is in danger), and the parasympathetic system is for the body to chill out. When the sympathetic nerves are stimulated, one of the responses is ejaculation. In ejaculation, the balls withdraw (for reasons I don’t know). When Jill’s husband looks over a precipice or is startled by a car honking because he is blocking traffic while yapping away on his cellphone, his body prepares him for flight or fight (usually flight for him). Therefore, his sympathetic nervous system causes his genitals to shrink. I guess i answered that problem and I’m sure my bio 12 teacher would be proud of me. Also a disclaimer, I do not know Jill or her husband so im justing randomly poking fun at him (just in case he is a 300 Ib pro wrestler and a extreme computer geek with a strong will for revenge and can’t take a joke so he would track me down somehow and pound me). ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/2 "2004-11-15T03:29:36Z")
> [@jcmkl](#): > > It is not that Jill’s husband’s balls are easily scared and they crawl back to the warmth of the body to hide, it is due to a human instinct response. Aren’t these the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/3 "2004-11-15T23:54:53Z")
In **Jill** ’s article, she mentions a news article about Asian men drawing their testicles into their bodies. According to this classic column from The Perfect Master, it’s an urban legend, popularised by a James Bond novel: [Can sumos retract their testicles inside their bodies?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_083.html) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/4 "2004-11-16T01:38:25Z")
[George Costanza]I was in the pool! I was in the pool![/George Costanza] ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/5 "2004-11-16T02:07:45Z")
[George Costanza]Like a frightened turtle![/George Costanza] ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/6 "2004-11-16T02:31:27Z")
> [@jcmkl](#): > > [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpenis.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpenis.html) > When Jill’s husband . . . is startled by a car honking . . . his sympathetic nervous system causes his genitals to shrink. I will never be able to honk my horn again without laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/7 "2004-11-16T03:13:03Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I will never be able to honk my horn again without laughing. Eventually you will then train your [husband’s] testicles to retract when you laugh. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/8 "2004-11-19T02:08:47Z")
[Cite](http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1222193.htm) > [@](#): > > Even David’s genitals, which seem out of proportion to most viewers, are anatomically correct for a male body in a “pre-fight tension”, the researchers said. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681/9 "2004-11-19T02:12:34Z")
> [@jcmkl](#): > > …it is due to a human instinct response > In the autonomous nervous system (ANS) of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), there are two branches of nerves called the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves[…]etc. Wouldn’t that be a reflex, rather than an instinct?