"Using a database of the biographies of 280 great scientists, a psychologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand has concluded that creative genius is turned off almost like a tap if a man gets married and has children, regardless of age."

The findings are interesting, but the conclusion that marriage and children CAUSE a drop off in creative productivity is probably not warranted. That study apparently does not really get at the cause and effect relationship, it just shows a statistical co-occurrence, unless I am mistaken.

Ten or fifteen years ago, two economists studied the issue of creative productivity, and concluded that creative genius is fueled by the sort of game-playing and inquisitiveness that many people give up as children or young adults. Most great creative and scientific discoveries are made before middle age, with those who can maintain that sense of "play" remaining relatively productive. They postulate that productivity at many US universities have gone down because the mandatory retirement age has been increased or removed altogether. As such, they clog the upper echelons of academia at the expense of younger colleagues, making "the creativity game" is less enjoyable. Anyway, their book is titled "Stiking the Mother Lode in Science," but I cannnot remember their names.

Most of the middle-age or older very creative people I know are either married or divorced, and have children. But they are not especially faithful, especially the men, and they certainly do compete for the spotlight. So maybe the current study is on to something after all.

Anyway, I am due for another trip to chica- or garota-ville in hopes that it will fuel and release my creative juices. LOL.

Postulate shmostulate. Anybody that has filled the Dad role with any kind of dedication will tell you that child care kills adult brain cells.

"Why did you do that? I told you a thousand times. Don't do that. And you did it again for the thousanth time? WHY?".

"I don't know"

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGG!!!!!!!"

I contend that gay guys, because they statistically have fewer children, will statistically have higher creativity, intelligence, live longer be wealthier, healthier etc etc.

Since gays find AIDS at a rate approaching 10x that of straight people (for obvious behavior choice reasons), I doubt the average gay life expectancy will rise from current levels, which is already far below that of straight folk.

Maybe it is not getting married that kills creativity and genius. It might be that only after all signs of creativity and genius have gone sayonara from your brain do you make the mistake of getting married

My guess is that kids drive the parents insane at a much higher rate than any aids epidemic wiping out the gay population. Ever go thru toilet training? If you survive that, think about drivers training. If you survive that and you really want a reason to jump off a cliff, try go thru living with a spouse entering Menopause. No, you single guys have no idea how lucky you are (so far until your senses start to go wacko and you get married).

You guys crack me up. Marriage kills creativity because how else can a marriage survive unless you deaden yourself? I'm half joking and half kidding. Why do some of us seem to have a need for a continual supply of new bodies? I'm convinced it is because our sexual creativity needs a new canvas to work with even if we paint the same picture over and over.

Marriage makes you feel secure but it also stiffles you. When you are married you always feel a loss of something but you can't quite put your finger on what it is. The uneasy laugh that married men have when some mongering type relates a story of sexual adventure is the laugh of yearning mixed with fear of returning to being solitary again. And the single guy, for all his struttering around, always looks at the married couple and wonders if he is really better off alone.

Actually, the uneasy laugh when some mongering type relates a story, is expressed by both single guys and married guys. When the uneasy laugh occurs, you change the topic to, uh, lets say 'football'. When they don't laugh and start asking questions, you show them where the 'action' is.

"And the single guy, for all his struttering around, always looks at the married couple and wonders if he is really better off alone."

You (the collective "you") may wonder, but if you look at the divorce rate (50%??) and add to that the folks that are still married but it's a nightmare, chances are you are better off alone. It's my experience, and the experience of ALL my close friends and family come to think of it, that a happy marriage is hard to come by.

My best compromise is having one or two border town bar whore favorites where you have "best customer" status. There's more to it than anonymous sex, but none of the hassles. I tell them no preguntas, no problemas.

Marriage (at least, in theory) is about setting up something that works long-term, low-risk, with a large number of potential pitfalls avoided. It is a mini-max phenomenon ... you minimize your maximum potential negative consequences.

Creative endeavors are largely the opposite. Game theorists might call it maxi-min, or something, I dunno.

This is an interesting discussion, in any case, but I think the correlation between descending creativity, and raising families, has as much to do with attitudes toward free time, as anything else. With a million things to do, and security a priority, you tend not to go out on a limb very often ...

Marriages might benefit from a little maxi-min, come to think of it.

"Marriage makes you feel secure but it also stiffles you. When you are married you always feel a loss of something but you can't quite put your finger on what it is."

That is what is great about your hobby. There is no sense of loss when you can put your finger on "it" whenever you want. Not to mention in "it."

"Necessity is the mother of invention"
Translation: Being a single guy,I haven't gotten laid in a long time and so I've got to do something creative in that department...