I DO NOT KNOW how much testosterone I have nor how it affects my behavior. Most people don’t. Yet this subject seems important.

But I want to start with some framing for what follows. We are living in a time when the limitations of scientific reductionism are becoming better understood. We are living in a time when the importance of complexity science is growing. Taken together, this allows for a more useful way to frame human beings. Human beings are complex systems that cannot be adequately reduced to their parts.

Wikipedia lists 64 human hormones and testosterone is one that gets considerable attention, often with offers for boosting it in older men. Other hormones recognizable to many non-experts include adrenaline, cortisol, dopamine, estrogen, insulin and oxytocin. These hormones have a significant impact on our behavior but we cannot be reduced to our hormones.

Another frame I would like to reference is UTOK, developed by Gregg Henriques. Human beings can be understood as the pinnacle of four levels of complexity that have emerged since the Big Bang. Stated another way, human beings are the most complex things in the universe. To reduce us to our hormones is both extremely problematic and potentially very useful. Understanding human behavior at the level of culture is extremely complex.

What is the impact of testosterone at the level of culture? ChatGPT has an answer:

 

Testosterone and aggression have been linked for decades, with numerous studies examining the relationship between the two. Testosterone is a hormone produced by the testicles in men and the ovaries in women, and it is responsible for promoting the development of secondary sexual characteristics, such as muscle mass, body hair, and a deep voice. In men, testosterone levels are typically much higher than in women, and this has been linked to higher levels of aggression.

Research has found that testosterone plays a key role in promoting aggressive behavior, both in animals and humans. Studies in animals have shown that animals with higher levels of testosterone are more likely to engage in aggressive behavior towards other animals, and this aggression is often related to competition for resources such as food, territory, or mates. Similarly, studies in humans have found that men with higher levels of testosterone are more likely to engage in aggressive behavior towards others, particularly in situations that are seen as threatening or challenging.

However, it is important to note that the relationship between testosterone and aggression is not a simple one. While higher levels of testosterone have been linked to higher levels of aggression, other factors, such as social and environmental factors, also play a role in determining whether someone will engage in aggressive behavior. For example, research has found that men who are raised in more violent or aggressive environments may be more likely to engage in aggressive behavior, regardless of their testosterone levels.

Men commit violent crimes at a rate that is several times that of females. This difference is almost universally true. There seems to be innate factors in play and testosterone is a likely suspect.

But the rates of homicides, a very violent crime, differ widely by country and this points to culture rather than biology. I live in Mexico which has a very high homicide rate, but this is misleading. I feel as safe living in Ajijic, Jalisco as I did living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Many people are unaware that homicide rates have significantly dropped in the long run. Rates were much higher in the Middle Ages. Although we can only speculate, it is possible that testosterone levels were higher then due to differences in diet and lifestyle.

This topic is of personal interest to me because I have never felt like a typical male. In high school, I realized that many of my peers were more aggressive than I was. A few of my peers who were sexually active were extremely aggressive, always on the hunt for their next piece of tail as it was called in those days. I was puzzled by such behavior at that time. I have written about My Masculinity but it is not possible to know the role of testosterone in my story.

I do not relate to most macho male archetypes. Foreign to me are The Warrior, The Rebel, The Outlaw, The Hero, The Soldier, The Adventurer and The Athlete. My father was a macho male and I left home at 17 to get away from him. I wrote about My Experience with Pa, a sad story which had a positive ending. But my sister had a differnet experience, a strong feeling of being supported and protected. To this day I tend to avoid macho males, a flaw which I am attempting to outgrow. My friendship with Henk Wilms, who reminded me of my father, helped me considerably.

As an aside, there are some male archetypes that I can identify with: The Lone Wolf and The Sage.

If scientific reductionism and clever models are inadequate for the understanding of testosterone, what are we to do? I have three suggestions.

In closing, I would like to thank my new friend, Claudia Dommaschk, for bringing a radio program to my attention, Testosterone by This American Life. Not only was it informative and delightful, it yielded a surprising insight. It felt rich and ALIVE and in contrast made the above paragraphs by ChatGPT seem impoverished and dead. This points the way to learn more about testosterone, from stories told by human beings with hormones in their veins. As impressed as I am with ChatGPT, it lacks something perhaps captured by the idea that it lacks hormones.