Sexy Creativity

The abstract begins,

“Creativity is sexy, but are all creative behaviors equally sexy?”

The answer, of course, is, “Of course not.” Individuals have their preferences, and so do cultures and subcultures, and it could be that some creative endeavors are inherently, on a species level, sexier than others. But what do those trends look like?

Fortunately, science rides to the rescue with a study to identify, objectively and statistically, the sexiest creative things to do. Let’s hear it for Science!

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Ginkgo: Aphrodisiac?

Gingko biloba is a tree native to China and Japan. Its leaves have been used in China for 5000 years to improve memory and brain function by helping blood flow to the brain. The active chemicals, known as gingkosides, help focus one’s attention and is useful in counteracting the side effects of caffeine. It should be noted, though, that more than 3 grams per day may result in headaches and irritability, much like caffeine. Some sources indicate that 120-160 mg. is quite enough to produce the desired results.

In fact, gingko is a vasodilator, meaning that it dilates blood vessels throughout the body, improving circulation in general. Gingkosides help protect the body against free radicals, and the herb as a whole strengthens arterial tone and prevents blood platelets from clumping.

Gingko is helpful for men who have erectile problems due to poor circulation, making it useful to the study of aphrodisiacs even if it doesn’t qualify specifically for the designation. Its stimulative effects, both general and brain-specific, make it worth noting in any case.

Hooray for Hollywood

Does anyone love Hollywood like Hollywood? When in the middle of the awards season, it certainly seems that the town’s self-love is top of the list! Just the fact that there should be a “season” of nearly continuous award shows seems a little odd. Still, here we are, enjoying spectacle, fashion, and décolletage as quickly as the town can turn it out.

What better response but to toast the whole thing with a drink named for Hollywood itself!

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Non Est Disputandum

There is a complex dynamic that underlies many, many troubles people have in finding love and even in simply understanding humans. We’ve hedged at it here and there, but the whole thing will take a little while to work through. Not that it’s hard to understand, for all its complexity! No, it’s just that people have convinced themselves (or let them be convinced) of so many things that are simply untrue, that, in spite of the obvious fact of the result flatly not working, it takes some doing to dismantle the structure of falsehood and see what really works and always has.

Kind of like that last sentence, no?

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Yage: Aphrodisiac?

Yage, also commonly called ayahuasca, is made from a South American vine, Banisteripsis capi.  It’s used by natives of Brazil in male rites of passage and by shamans in religious ceremonies to enhance their perceptions. Predictably, it’s hallucinogenic: The stuff contains two of the most powerful natural MAO inhibitors, harmine and harmoline. Small doses produce euphoria and empathy and enhance sex remarkably (for the user). It also regularly induces vomiting, which shamans consider part of the benefit, but which I cannot comprehend improving one’s sex life. In larger amounts it is quite dangerous and is not recommended without doctor’s supervision in any dosage.

Though heightened senses does tend to make for better sex, I wouldn’t class this in any normal definition of aphrodisiac.