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A MAGAZINE recently asked me to predict a man’s sexual performance by his preferences in takeaway food. Most reputable scientists wouldn’t dream of predicting sexual function like this—and that’s what Itold the magazine. So they found someone to say what I wouldn’t. They always do. The resulting article told the reader it was a “fact” that men who enjoy kebabs require instant sexual gratification.

No newspaper or magazine article or television documentary is complete these days without the obligatory appearance of an “expert”. But too often “expert” stands for “the first person we found who would talk to the…

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