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Comment by RyanHolliday | Hacker News Reader

Interesting article, but I don't understand this: "The male brain has the enviable ability to essentially switch off emotions when desired--in part because it’s hard for a man to think clearly in the face of emotion."

"For a man"? Wouldn't it be hard for, you know, anyone, man or woman, to think clearly if they're over-emotional at the moment?

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Many women believe that their ability to "think" while emotional is what makes them the stronger sex. Of course, if you talk to them later when they are no longer emotional, they will admit they weren't thinking clearly.

The same is true for men of course. While most of us refrain from emotions at work, any man who's had a fight with his wife knows he's been just as irrational when the emotions run high.

The important take away: emotions aren't valuable at work.

I've read that testosterone and estrogen react differently when they mix with adrenaline or other emotion-triggered hormones—testosterone can exacerbate the cognitive difficulties whereas estrogen can soothe them. File this under 'something someone read somewhere'—i.e. don't take it too seriously—but that might be the kind of thing the author meant by "it’s hard for a man to think clearly in the face of emotion."

Switching off emotions takes practice! It's not something that develops spontaneously. It can be a bit scary at first, but eventually you learn that turning off your emotions for a little while doesn't make them go away; you can turn them back on later and be the same person you were before.

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