...are we really, as a race, that brainless? Mindless? Non-thinking? Oh wait, it's allegedly only the *men* who are thoughtless.

I see some of you might be nodding your head in agreement already, but you don't know exactly what about. You see, while some may think men are generally thoughtless about certain things, they're truly not thinking for two very important aspects of life:

Sex. Money.

Seriously. There have been a couple of studies released about this recently. Stanford University students underwent a study to see how their brain activity changed (or didn't change) when comparing looking at pictures of naked women and making money in the stock market. Guess what? No change. The same part of the brain lit up for both activities.

What part of the brain was it? Apparently it's the part of the brain that plays a key role in the pleasure experience. I wonder what it would light that part of the brain up for women - sex, surely... chocolate, perhaps?

Now that could lead to some interesting thoughts. The desire for a woman equaling the desire for money? Maybe. That would be a compliment to some women. Then there's the British study that came up with the result that men who finished with the largest profits on the stock market in a day started that day with extremely high levels of testosterone. So, the more aggressive you are the more successful you are - no surprise there as that's been a business tenet for years.

Going back to the Stanford study they've come to the conclusion that emotions clearly play a part in someone's decision making abilities in the stock market.

Um. Duh. The stock market has been an emotional indicator for years. People are fickle and they will let emotions rule their decisions be they be about money, relationships, careers. But to have sex and money linked in such a fundamental way is interesting. It makes sense, though, when you look through the ages at the evolution of man and society. Sex and money = power and power is supposed to be the ultimate aphrodisiac. It's all about attracting women, right?

I don't think, however, that we can answer the question of "What was he thinking" when we hear about another political sex scandal. After all, the "he" actually was thinking, but with only a certain part of his brain.

And he was thinking about feeling good, feeling happy, feeling pleasure. And more willing to risk it all too - men who looked at the erotic images offered were more likely to take a risk on gambling games as well. If they looked at violent images they were less likely to take the same risks. That makes me wonder about all those day traders who were losing their shirts in the late 90s and early 00s...

...then again, maybe they weren't wearing shirts in the first place. Ew.