Need More Data

     For my blog post I'd like to focus on the excerpt we read of Sex at Dawn by Ryan and Jetha. Before I delve into the content of the excerpt, I'd like to point out how rather refreshing it was to read their unabashed, easy-going, conversation style of writing. Some of the previous high academia writings left me confused and the articles in need of a few re-reads. This one I read as easily as a good story, and their straight forward dialogue allowed me to follow their points.
     As a science-y person, I plan on becoming a Biology major, I enjoyed how this excerpt discussed and criticized different scientists and their studies. A good strong criticism now and then is what allows for the progression of science. If you question the work of other scientists, more work will be done in that area, which will hopefully lead to more and more better data over time as well as progression in that area. This is why I'm glad the authors addressed and criticized some of the so-called truths, hopefully it will have provoked more research in that area based on the individuals who read the book. One so called truth is the belief that women have a lower libido relative to men. If Darwin said it, it must be true, no? While Darwin did years and years of extensive research so that he could publish his theory on the evolution of species, it is unlikely that he spent nearly as much time researching human sexual libido. While many scientists have been using other animals and comparing us to them (Bateman for example with his fruit flies), I honestly think that's a little illogical. Yes human beings are animals, and while many fundamental elements of us all are the same, humans are different in many ways. And so it would only be right to figure out human libido levels from humans themselves. It sounds obvious, but often this research is not done! It's expensive to do research on humans, even just questions or harmless tests. And then of course anything that could be harmful or too invasive is not allowed. So yes it's tough on scientists to collect solid data, and even though all of the scientists work very very hard, there are often grand conclusions made from small experiments (for example the Florida State University experiment from 1989) that really should have many many more experiments performed before a conclusion is created.
     And now I realized I've used my blog post to discuss the criticisms I have of scientific work. I'm okay with that because scientific work that is well published but not well researched by others can greatly affect society. Small studies performed that need more research for greater support of their conclusions can reach anybody. Because it's science and an experiment, many people will not hesitant to believe what the scientists found. People will repeat the findings and it can reach across entire countries, changing the way people think and act. It can create "truths" like the four the authors discuss in the excerpt; the relatively weak female libido, low male parental investment, sexual jealousy and paternity certainty, and extended receptivity and concealed ovulation. They all came from scientists, researchers and other high in academia which were then revealed to society and widely accepted. So now more work needs to be done to either prove or reject these studies. Better conclusions can be made and shown to the world when much more data has been amassed.