2 min
“Beautiful women make men stupid.” It is scientifically proven statement according to Dr. Daniel Amen. I came across this statement while reading “Making a Good Brain Great” book. The claim is based on Canadian researchers who conducted a study on a group of men.
The researchers showed pictures of beautiful women and non-so-pretty women to a group of men. The men played a dice game. Based on the number from the rolled dice (not mentioned in the book), each man was offered either $15 the following day, or $75 a few days later. Those men who were shown pictures of the beautiful women were more likely to take the $15.
Researchers claim this experiment proves that men will stop thinking about long-term consequences once love chemicals kick in. It turned out that once a man is shown pictures of beautiful women, his prefrontal cortex heads south, leaving the judgment area of the brain empty.
The same experiment was given to a group of women. The result was negative. Men’s attractiveness has no affect on women’s thinking process. A woman is more interested in security, communication, and a smile.
The male brain is different from the female brain. The man is more driven by beauty, shape, fantasy, and obsession. These qualities can leave a man quivering with pleasure hoping for more, because thirty percent of the brain is dedicated for visual processing.
So, when I see a beautiful girl elegantly dressed, she hijacks a large portion of my brain.
I am sure Las Vegas takes advantage of this when they have beautiful waitresses dressed in mini skirts serving free alcohol.
Dr. Daniel must believe this research is credible for him to quote it in his book. But, what if we changed the context to corporate America?
You may laugh, but if researchers and brain doctors believe in the power of this scientific proof, then it should be investigated in a complex real world setting such as corporate world and other organizations. It is a competitive dimension that should be measured. It could be a strategy to outperform rivals. This could change how we think about company performance. Beauty can be a cause of bad decisions.
Beauty is a force that shapes men’s decisions. It is a pressure that produces predictable errors. Men neglect their natural tendency for this weakness. We already know of one president and one CIA Director who made a stupid decision when faced with this cognitive minefield.
It reminds of those cubical spaces – boxes of tensions. I have seen the effect of a beautiful girl in workplace. Her personality and beauty permeate through the entire company. I wonder about the CEOs and leaders who have beautiful girls in their organizations and companies. How does beauty influence CEOs’ complex corporate decisions? And how many stupid decisions have they made? How many sexual harassment claims does an HR of a company or an organization receive? Imagine if that number is transparent and visible and LinkedIn offers it as a measure for the health of an organization on a company’s profile. How many girls apply to that company? How will investors look at Apple, Google, or Amazon? What will that do to their stock prices?
But then, if she can hijack my brain by disabling thirty percent of its capacity with her dazzling beauty, then what happens to my free will? Shouldn’t this be Clinton’s or Petraeus’ defense?
Beauty is the kryptonite of my brain. Every time her name is called, it echoes centuries of history and culture. Even seraphs who sit next to God could be seduced by her beauty. Then what hope is there for an imperfect man like me?
My free will, beauty, is dead.
.jpg)
