Men are more likely than women to be idiots
Every year, the British Medical Journal puts out an especially, shall
we say, whimsical edition in honor of the holiday season. All of the
studies therein are subject to the same standards as usual, but they
tend to be a bit goofier than the prestigious journal's usual fare.
Previous BMJ holiday papers have included an investigation of how much
James Bond actually drank (the conclusion: too much to be the
sharp-shooting Don Juan we know him to be), a look at the genetic
characteristics of magic in the “Harry Potter” series, and a study
recording different responses to the sight of a man on a unicycle.
This year does not disappoint: This week, BMJ published “The Darwin
Awards: sex differences in idiotic behaviour,” a systematic (but
tongue-in-cheek) evaluation of the balance in male and female recipients
of the “Darwin Award.” For the uninitiated, this misanthropic award is
given posthumously to those who have supposedly improved the gene pool
by removing themselves from it. From the study:
For instance, Darwin Awards are unlikely to be awarded to individuals
who shoot themselves in the head while demonstrating that a gun is
unloaded. This occurs too often and is classed as an accident. In
contrast, candidates shooting themselves in the head to demonstrate that
a gun is loaded may be eligible for a Darwin Award - such as the man who
shot himself in the head with a “spy pen” weapon to show his friend that
it was real.
A bit tasteless, but certainly an indicator of idiocy at its very
worst.Led by a group of (male) researchers, the study investigated “male
idiot theory” (MIT) using the Darwin Awards as a subject pool. Sure
enough, there were more male winners significantly more.Of 318 confirmed
Darwin Awards, 282 were awarded to males. That's 88.7 percent of the
award populations. What a bias!
Of course, as the authors readily admit, it's quite possible (and
even likely) that men are just more likely to be nominated for the
award. But they point out that risk taking behavior is seen to be more
common in men, as is excessive alcohol consumption.
“We believe MIT deserves further investigation,” the authors wrote in
the paper's conclusion, “and, with the festive season upon us, we intend
to follow up with observational field studies and an experimental study
males and females, with and without alcohol in a semi-naturalistic
Christmas party setting.”
-The Washington Post
|
