Slashdot Mirror


Pretty Women Scramble Men's Sense Of The Future

Adam_Trask writes "Psychologists in Canada have finally proved what women have long suspected - men really are irrational enough to risk entire kingdoms to catch sight of a beautiful face." The methodology is not air-tight, but how many scientists figure out a way to use Am I Hot or Not at work? See also "Women Live Longer Because Men Are Dumb."

100 comments

  1. Firstly by rhs98 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Firstly: "Psychologists in Canada" + "The methodology is not air-tight" = verifiably-true???!?!?!


    "But we hypothesise that viewing pictures of pretty women was mildly arousing"
    Duh! Thats what the internet was invented for...

    "If there's the prospect of getting a very [strike]attractive[/strike] rich partner it may pay a man to take more risks than if an average partner was available."

    Thats better...


    "If you are less attractive, with few potential partners, then it pays to take risks"
    I.e, go for the cute ones! Nice...thats where I am going wrong...lol

    1. Re:Firstly by superflippy · · Score: 1

      go for the cute ones! Nice...thats where I am going wrong

      Actually, that could be true. There was an experiment described in my old social psychology textbook where, when presented with the option of talking to a beautiful or average woman, men chose the average woman. Hypothesis was, they thought rejection was less likely. So maybe you should be going for the cute ones - perhaps everyone else is intimidated by them.

      --
      Your fantasies contain the seeds of important concepts.
  2. am i hot or not by nocomment · · Score: 1

    oh ya, i forgot about that...*click click typetty type*

    --
    /* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
    /* http://allyourbasearebelongto.us */
    1. Re:am i hot or not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  3. Well by BrynM · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm going to do some blatant karma whoring here so my status will fsdfjdfflll.... Wow! Lookit you! What's your name cutie? What am I reading? Slashsomething - it doesn't matter. You have gorgeous eyes.

    --
    US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
  4. Genetics again? by IANAL(BIAILS) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Isn't this just millions of years of evolution at play? The only reason we are all here today is because our ancestors were successful in finding a mate and passing on their genetic information... and we simply are the product of that evolutionary background.

    The fact that both males and females were tested, and only males showed this behaviour tends to confirm this. For reproduction, females must spend far, far more resources than males do (as my old ecology prof used to say, 'sperm are cheap'). They can therefore afford to be more selective when it comes to mates. Males, on the other hand, aren't assured of passing down their genes, thus the evolution of such behaviour.

    1. Re:Genetics again? by aminorex · · Score: 0, Informative

      That's called eisogesis. When all you have
      are pink sunglasses, everything looks like
      a gardenia.

      If they showed the females photographs of
      statistically attractive females, I'd wager
      that they would also have exhibited a
      degradation of economic rationality.

      --
      -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
    2. Re:Genetics again? by mapMonkey · · Score: 1

      If they showed the females photographs of statistically attractive females, I'd wager that they would also have exhibited a degradation of economic rationality

      RTFA. They did perform that control experiment (as any good scientist would), and found that women did not show this behavior.

    3. Re:Genetics again? by SandSpider · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It may be hardly surprising from an evolutionary standpoint, but it doesn't mean that the study wasn't worth doing. The problem with Evolution as a Behavioural Theory is that it's very difficult to falsify. It's pretty easy to take existing data and fit it into an evolutionary theory, but it's very difficult to find data that proves that the behavior does not come from evolutionary factors. So it's a neat theory, and it's fun for TV shows and parties, but it's not all that useful from a scientific perspective.

      =Brian

      --
      There is nothing so good that someone, somewhere, will not hate it.
    4. Re:Genetics again? by kc0dxh · · Score: 1

      Not so. Evolution (which, by the way, is popular not proven) is an external process. Internal processes are effecting this behavior. Rather than claiming the all emcompasing and ever-changing Evolution, wouldn't it be simpler to chalk it up to selfishness? Doesn't (most) every guy want a pretty woman?

      --

      --- "1.21 Jigawatts!" -Doc

    5. Re:Genetics again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the control, they showed the women pictures of MEN, not pictures of women. "Both male and female students at McMaster University were shown pictures of the OPPOSITE SEX..." RTFA yourself.

    6. Re:Genetics again? by drox · · Score: 2, Insightful
      For reproduction, females must spend far, far more resources than males do

      Not necessarily true. In general, females invest more directly in the rearing of the young, but males often have a considerable investment in courtship and in keeping rivals away from their mate. They may even have special structures (antlers, horns and the like) or coloration that serves no other purpose than to attract a mate and/or intimidate rivals. If that's not investment in reproduction, I don't know what is.

      ...as my old ecology prof used to say, 'sperm are cheap'.

      That may be, but getting them to do their job (i.e. procreating) successfully can be very expensive.

      The fact is that reproduction is costly, regardless of whether one is male or female, and regardless of whether that cost is paid before or after the young are born/hatched/whatever.

    7. Re:Genetics again? by hurtstotouchfire · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Good point. Going with the survival of the fittest concept, there's also the point that women (historically, although no longer of course *ahem*) relied on men not only for their freely dispensed semen, but also for hunting, shelter and protection. Therefor seeing photographs of attractive females, might incite competitiveness, which could induce 'irrational discounting'.

      Plus there's the chance that there were dykes in there. Actually, I'd be extremely interested to see how homosexuals reacted in comparison with their hetero counterparts.

      There's also the possibility that the male tendency for irrationality around attractive women has nothing to do with effort expended to reproduce, but just with chances of reproduction period.

      From a propagation of one's own genes standpoint:
      If a female is successful in getting pregnant, she will indeed have to spend the next 9 months, and really the next couple years, out of the game. If a male succeeds in impregnating a woman, he can go to it again 5 minutes later (or several hours in some cases) but in theory 5 minutes later. Therefor it'd be in his interest (propagation-wise) to be a little fickle, and to make quick, instant-gratification decisions. The woman's primary concern for propagating her genes is to keep that kid alive. So she's more likely to be focused on the future.

      Personally, I don't identify with that whole mindset, but hey, I'm not straight. Maybe I think like a man.

    8. Re:Genetics again? by zCyl · · Score: 1

      but it's very difficult to find data that proves that the behavior does not come from evolutionary factors.

      Try fitting teen suicide to evolutionary theory.

    9. Re:Genetics again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "there's a chance there were dykes in there" Remeber, this test was done at macmaster university... i'd say a chance is a pretty big understatement....

    10. Re:Genetics again? by bobbozzo · · Score: 1
      Try fitting teen suicide to evolutionary theory.

      Survival of the fittest? (emotionally, mentally, whatever)

      Not that I think "Social Darwinism" is good policy myself.

      --
      Nothing to see here; Move along.
    11. Re:Genetics again? by SandSpider · · Score: 1

      Try fitting teen suicide to evolutionary theory

      Depression is a trait which, for the long-term survival of the species, is not beneficial. It reduces productivity and so on, so it should be elimintated. Because the adolescent period is one filled with excessive amounts of hormones, it's easier to exaggerate any difficulties that may cause problems with problems in the brain. If the difficulties are too great, the teenager will either kill him/herself explicitly or just end up doing something dumb.

      That's why you have the period of high hormones and other difficulties before (by and large) the official breeding stage comes in, so that any of those kinks can be worked out. If you manage to survive into adulthood and gain breeder status, you've obviously managed to do everything not-too-incorrectly.

      There's a few other ways to argue that, but that's the first that came to mind.

      =Brian

      --
      There is nothing so good that someone, somewhere, will not hate it.
    12. Re:Genetics again? by Cujo · · Score: 1

      Evolutionary theory does not predict that individuals will never act so as to limit or even preclude their own reproductive success.

      In fact, that is going on all around us with dropping fertility rates in humans all over the world. Does that mean that humans are immune to natural selection? Not at all. As long as we are mortal (yep, still are), then those individuals who have the most surviving children will have the most descendants in the future human population and their genes will propagate. It's just not clear how important that is anymore.

      By building such capacious and versatile (and risky) brains for us, our genomes have effectively relinquished control of their own destiny. Why they did this is a very interesting question, and one I don;t believe we have an answer for yet.

      --

      Helium balloons want to be free.

  5. my personal favorite by kurosawdust · · Score: 3, Funny
    My favorite is when guy catches his girl cheating on him with another guy...and then goes after (or at least gets mad at) the guy, with whom he had no "emotional contract", shall we say.

    I don't know if scientists have a name for this most delicious of male irrationalities, but I like to call it the Jerry Springer Phenomenon.

    1. Re:my personal favorite by kinnell · · Score: 4, Insightful
      My favorite is when guy catches his girl cheating on him with another guy...and then goes after (or at least gets mad at) the guy, with whom he had no "emotional contract", shall we say.

      When a man chooses a partner, he chooses to invest a lot of energy into rearing her offspring. If, however, she is impregnated by another man, all that energy is wasted, from the point of view of his own genes, because the other man's genes are propogated. The woman, however, can still be used to propogate his genes. Overall, the best behaviour for your genes is to get furious at anyone who tries to mate with your woman, not with your woman.

      --
      If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
    2. Re:my personal favorite by rhs98 · · Score: 1

      jealousus-bastardus I think is the technical name...

    3. Re:my personal favorite by ivanmarsh · · Score: 1

      That goes both ways, like most things.

    4. Re:my personal favorite by BrynM · · Score: 4, Informative
      My favorite is when guy catches his girl cheating on him with another guy...and then goes after (or at least gets mad at) the guy, with whom he had no "emotional contract", shall we say.

      I don't know if scientists have a name for this most delicious of male irrationalities, but I like to call it the Jerry Springer Phenomenon

      It's called Sperm Competition and is a very real biological process in men of all species.
      --
      US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
    5. Re:my personal favorite by kurosawdust · · Score: 4, Funny

      True. However, I do believe this line of reasoning would find its culmination with businessmen throwing their feces at each other during board meetings.

    6. Re:my personal favorite by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 2, Funny

      Perhaps. I think you are right except you replace "businessmen" with "politicians" and "board meetings" with "campaigns".

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    7. Re:my personal favorite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps it's because beating the other bloke to a bloody pulp is way more appealing than doing it to somebody you care about.

    8. Re:my personal favorite by Wireless+Joe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Wouldn't this mean that the cuckold should go after the other man's children

    9. Re:my personal favorite by drox · · Score: 2, Interesting

      When a man chooses a partner, he chooses to invest a lot of energy into rearing her offspring.

      This applies to human beings and to very few other species (except among bird species, where it's quite common). Males of most species provide little to their offspring other than genetic material.

      Overall, the best behaviour for your genes is to get furious at anyone who tries to mate with your woman, not with your woman.

      Strangely enough, this would seem to apply across the board, whether a male invests directly in his young or not. There are costs associated with breeding, whether applied to the rearing of young or to the courtship. So the male *does* have a considerable investment in his offspring, it's just in many species it's invested before they're even born/hatched/whatever.

    10. Re:my personal favorite by vigilology · · Score: 1
      It's called Sperm Competition and is a very real biological process in men of all species.

      How many species have men?

    11. Re:my personal favorite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      How many species have men?

      All but yours.

    12. Re:my personal favorite by KronicD · · Score: 1

      Oddly enough i seem to find myself angry with the woman... i guess its just my geek rationality seeping through :|

      --
      "Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
    13. Re:my personal favorite by bobbozzo · · Score: 1

      As George Costanza said,
      "Isn't it enough that we have to have sex with them?!?!"

      --
      Nothing to see here; Move along.
    14. Re:my personal favorite by bobbozzo · · Score: 1

      read your own article... sperm competition means the sperm competing for the egg(s), not men fighting each other.

      --
      Nothing to see here; Move along.
    15. Re:my personal favorite by hplasm · · Score: 1
      Wouldn't this mean that the cuckold should go after the other man's children?

      And eat them..

      --
      ...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
    16. Re:my personal favorite by Zarf · · Score: 1

      It's called Sperm Competition

      Okay, that's pretty sick. I don't think that research was meant to be applied directly to human behavior like that. Then again there are some pretty sick people in the world.

      --
      [signature]
    17. Re:my personal favorite by BrynM · · Score: 1
      From a strictly defined perspective, you are right. However, the term is used to describe the surrounding phenomina as well. Like most biological activities, there are psychological and physiological effects that manifest in most species when actual sperm competition occurs and when there is a threat of sperm competition. It wasn't easy in the time I had to find a great article on the subject, but I wanted to put something that would get the research ball rolling for people. This may clarify a little more:
      "Sperm competition occurs when the sperm of two or more males simultaneously occupy the reproductive tract of a female and compete to fertilize an egg. We used a questionnaire to investigate psychological responses to the risk of sperm competition for 194 men in committed, sexual relationships in the United States and in Germany. As predicted, a man who spends a greater (relative to a man who spends a lesser) proportion of time apart from his partner since the couple's last copulation reported (a) that his partner is more attractive, (b) that other men find his partner more attractive, (c) greater interest in copulating with his partner, and (d) that his partner is more sexually interested in him.
      For more detail on the biological effects, see this:
      Shackelford noted that prior research has demonstrated that sperm counts are higher in ejaculate the longer a man is apart from his female partner - with sperm count leaping from 350 million when the man has been with the woman 100% of the time to 800 million when he has only seen her 5% of the time.
      Please also remember that this is a new area of research for humans, so you'll see a lot of the same research repeated in relation to human males.
      --
      US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
    18. Re:my personal favorite by m0kemon · · Score: 1

      Yeah... that's kind of dumb... but wait until that guy is your best friend :) Just as dogs pee on car wheels to mark their territory, us, humans, as with many other species, tend to mark our territory through agression... That would't be so bad if I was a big guy, I'm a fat one, so for me I'll keep trying on that "nice shoes! wanna fuck?" and try to buy a fast car, cuz I'm not the running type :)

  6. Obligatory SCO joke... by KDan · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I guess Darl McBride must be living surrounded by top models then...!

    Daniel

    --
    Carpe Diem
    1. Re:Obligatory SCO joke... by hummassa · · Score: 1

      Guess what... he is!

      --
      It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
    2. Re:Obligatory SCO joke... by KDan · · Score: 1

      How was that off-topic? It was plenty on-topic.

      bastard mods... :-P

      Daniel

      --
      Carpe Diem
  7. Yep... by BackwardEngineer · · Score: 1

    I'd risk it all for boobies! Like the Bloodhound Gang sez... "Hurray for boobies!"

  8. Men by ed333 · · Score: 3, Funny
    men really are irrational enough to risk entire kingdoms to catch sight of a beautiful face

    In other news today, the Earth has been reported to be round!

    1. Re:Men by blamanj · · Score: 2, Funny

      Not only that, the physiological reason has been known for a long time, as well.

      All of the man's blood has rushed from his head and gone...other places.

  9. Women?? by lostindenver · · Score: 4, Funny

    What are those? Whats this pretty? Is it like a simple command line or like a Gui..

    1. Re:Women?? by FurryFeet · · Score: 1

      That's easy. Think "VR porn without the glasses".

  10. It finally makes sense by scottjantz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My wife is a sales associate at a small electronic retail store full of insanely high-priced gadgets. The people she works with are average looking while she is quite stunning. Her sales are more than three times the next highest sales associate. I once witnessed her sell two high end IPaqs and a Tablet PC to the same guy who didn't even know what he was going to do with them.

    Until this article I wasn't sure if it was her beauty, or some Jedi mind trick. Now I know.

    1. Re:It finally makes sense by RCO · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now you have to forget that you ever knew that minor fact because if you keep thinking about it you might someday start looking at what she sold you.

      wait did I say that out loud???

      Ok, now we just have to shoot him, since he can't propogate this knowledge...

      --
      'And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo Every day you meet quite a few...'
    2. Re:It finally makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      -1: Showoff :-)

    3. Re:It finally makes sense by Bob+The+Cowboy · · Score: 1

      Hmmm... let's be honest, /. needs a mod, "+1, Knows A Hot Chick"

    4. Re:It finally makes sense by iggymanz · · Score: 4, Funny

      post a link to her picture & we'll mod your karma to the moon!

    5. Re:It finally makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      didja ever wonder why people insist on making shit like this up on /. when noone will ever actually know who the hell they are?

      dude, I just nailed britney spears. no, really. i had a little trouble explaining why a blow job actually involved sucking, but otherwise it was great.

      hey, she says she wants to do a threesome with me and the geek of my choice. if you'd be willing to do a little favor for some friends of mine in nigeria i'll hook you right up...

    6. Re:It finally makes sense by bobbozzo · · Score: 1

      Interesting...
      could also explain why women often do better as real estate agents.

      --
      Nothing to see here; Move along.
    7. Re:It finally makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I once bought a CD player that I couldn't afford solely because the woman who was showing it to me had...well, she was generously endowed by a kind and benevolent God, shall we say. The unit was close to the floor and she had to crouch down to show it to me. I saw right down her blouse and said "Uh, okay, I'll take that one." After it was all over, I said to myself, "What the HELL did I just do?"

      Still have the CD player, though.

  11. It would be much more interesting.... by aminorex · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would have found it much more interesting
    if the study had included the impact of exposure
    to statistically attractive males and females
    to both male and female subjects.

    Clearly the interest of advertisers lies in
    gaining a favorable irrational reaction.
    But I notice that advertising geared toward
    women generally includes images of attractive
    females, not of attractive males. Thus I
    think the negative results obtained by
    exposing females subjects to statistically
    attractive males is unsurprising.

    I found the reasoning of the sociobiologist
    interviewed in New Scientist to be facile.
    If this study had been done 50 years ago,
    they would have interviewed a psychoanalyst
    and obtained a similarly affected "expert"
    deep analysis.

    --
    -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
    1. Re:It would be much more interesting.... by SandSpider · · Score: 3, Funny

      I would have found it much more interesting
      if the study had included the impact of exposure
      to statistically attractive males and females
      to both male and female subjects.


      I see you're neither a Psycholog/Sociology grad student nor a professional researcher in the field. If you were, you would instead think, "A ha! Now I know my thesis/next paper!"

      But, yes, the cool thing is that you can take the results from earlier experiments and, preferably after appropriate verification of reproducibility, extend the experiment to include the new factors. I am sure someone will do this, but I doubt it will receive as much press as the original study. Unless it proves that all women are lesbians, in which case it'll probably get much wider coverage.

      =Brian

      --
      There is nothing so good that someone, somewhere, will not hate it.
    2. Re:It would be much more interesting.... by kryzx · · Score: 4, Funny

      Mmmmm... "statistically attractive".

      One would be hard pressed to find another phrase so succinct, and yet containing so much "essence of UberDork".

      --
      "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
  12. Hmmm... I wonder by Descartes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    if they'd get the same results if they tested gay men (with the appropriate pictures). Or if they showed pictures of attractive men to straight men.

    It would be interesting to see if this breaks down on gender lines or sexual preference lines.

    1. Re:Hmmm... I wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The test was done at Mcmaster university...

      I'd be surprised if any of the people tested weren't gay....

    2. Re:Hmmm... I wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or gender, sexual preference, or sex.

      Then again, it's hard to find a good sample group of straight men, straight women, gay men, gay women, straight MTF transexuals, gay MTF transexuals, straight FTM transexuals, and gay FTM transexuals.

  13. Bullshit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You're just as likely to see the female go after the other woman at the same time she defends her love for the man that just cheated on her.

  14. Pfft! This is incomplete science. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone needs to set up a complimentary experiment that tests a woman's decison-making process after being exposed to "bad boys" that will obviously use and abuse them, and yet are regularly preferred and pursued rather than the less dangerous guys who, despite having the capcity and desire to respect women and treat them as partners rather than toys, are dismissed as undesirable.

  15. To be fair to the sexual imperative... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...men would look at pictures of attractive vs. less-attractive women. And females would be shown the education level and income-earning potential of the males.

  16. This is news? by FreeForm+Response · · Score: 1

    I seem to recall this woman, Helen of Troy?

  17. Back to the Future by AtariAmarok · · Score: 2, Funny

    The news item title sounds like a description of the "plot complication" in "Back to the Future III" where Doc Brown meets the schoolteacher.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  18. I can confirm this! by Fulkkari · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Women have been exploiting this built-in feature in men for years!

    Unfortunately there are no vendor patches available at the time beign. A temporary fix is not to have any contact with these 'women' (this should not be a problem for usual /. reader)!

    NOTE: Even pr0n should be avoided while doing important decisions.

    Knowing these facts helps preventing such exploitaition in the future.

    --
    I demand the Cone of Silence!
    1. Re:I can confirm this! by sfjoe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Unfortunately there are no vendor patches available at the time beign.

      Depends on what you're "patching" for. Less attractive women have been buying cosmetics for centuries.

      --
      It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
    2. Re:I can confirm this! by Lips · · Score: 1

      It's even more insidious than this.

      The women patch the men to improve them, and secretly insert interesting little clauses into the EULA that are effectively vendor lock in.

    3. Re:I can confirm this! by Planesdragon · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately there are no vendor patches available at the time beign. A temporary fix is not to have any contact with these 'women' (this should not be a problem for usual /. reader)!

      There is, however, a workaround. Simply find a female of sufficient compatability in goals and personality, and marry said female.

      Sufficient time focused on said "honeypot female" will allow a male to operate relatively normally even in the presence of new attractive females.

  19. Nostradamus by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Pretty Women Scramble Men's Sense Of The Future"

    No where is this more apparent than comparing the work of Noastramus before, and after, he met the fetching Marie Rocque on a trip to Nice.

    Previous to this, his qautraines were known for their poetic quality and predictive power.

    After Cupid's arrow struck him, his writings were reduced to doggerell of no predictive ability, such as "Purple space alien destroy Russia in 1983", "Small Bears of Shicageau Win World Series 2001", "Cylons Led by Picard Destroy Babylon 4 in 2525", and "Matrix III Better than Matrix I".

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  20. Sperm competition by dpilot · · Score: 1

    Way back when, there were several GNOME releases named after the Bonobo, rather like kernel 2.6-test releases are being named after the Turkey.

    Presumably anyone who looked into the Bonobo a little bit learned about sperm competition, from the most extreme example amoung primates, if not the animal kingdom.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  21. Yup, a pretty woman requires quick action by redelm · · Score: 1
    These results are hardly surprising. Love favors the bold. Discounting increases accordingly. Not even unrelated, since sex gifts are the norm for human males in Hamilton, ON.ca and many of those students will be cash-limited.

    More important to know ourselves and the manipulation we are subject to. Intersting that sex is used to sell beer very successfully, but not to sell geek toys (mobos, HDs, ...). Why?

    1. Re:Yup, a pretty woman requires quick action by provolt · · Score: 2, Funny
      More important to know ourselves and the manipulation we are subject to. Intersting that sex is used to sell beer very successfully, but not to sell geek toys (mobos, HDs, ...). Why?


      That's really easy. Beer often helps you get sex. Marketers and consumers know this, so their commercials are "hey drink this, get laid".

      I would venture to say that the number of times someone has gotten laid because of their computer components is around 10. And 6 of those were probably Steve Jobs.

  22. It would be much more interesting.... by Hell+O'World · · Score: 1

    I would have found it much more interesting
    if there had been purty pictures to look at! Slobber Slobber Drool Drool Gah Gah

  23. Sperm competition? Count me out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sperm competition? Count me out. I don't want to be the one stuck with cleaning the walls when this one is over.

  24. wow, that's insightful reporting by corbettw · · Score: 1

    I wonder which newspaper that reporter will end up working for next?

    --
    God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
  25. How can you be married? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cause only faggots use flash.

  26. women are just as bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    according to this New Scientist article:

    [snip]

    Women, by contrast, made equally rational decisions whether they had been shown pictures of handsome men or those of average attractiveness.

    [/snip]

    1. Re:women are just as bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read it again. It says the rationality of their decisions isn't affected by the attractiveness of the guys.

    2. Re:women are just as bad by drox · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Women, by contrast, made equally rational decisions whether they had been shown pictures of handsome men or those of average attractiveness.

      Perhaps this is because women tend to be less aroused by visual stimuli than men are.

      No I don't have a source for this except for anecdotal evidence, but that anecdotal evidence is rather persuasive. Visual porn is overwhelmingly designed with the male (gay and straight alike) in mind, while tactile stimuli (sex toys, vibrators, etc.) are marketed primarily to females. I don't think this is by accident.

      Perhaps if the women were asked to make those rational decisions while being massaged by a skilled masseur, their decision-making ability would be found to be impaired in a similar way to the males' impairment when confronted with visuals of attractive women.

      How 'bout it, researchers? Design me a study!

    3. Re:women are just as bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Perhaps if the women were asked to make those rational decisions while being massaged by a skilled masseur, their decision-making ability would be found to be impaired in a similar way to the males' impairment when confronted with visuals of attractive women.
      I bet males won't make very rational decisions while being massaged either, so there would not be much difference between male and female like in this experiment.
    4. Re:women are just as bad by Alsee · · Score: 1

      Perhaps they should do a study based on scent.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    5. Re:women are just as bad by maxconsulting · · Score: 0

      Visual porn is overwhelmingly designed with the male (gay and straight alike) in mind, while tactile stimuli (sex toys, vibrators, etc.) are marketed primarily to females. I don't think this is by accident.

      maybe that's because a hand can simulate a vagina better that it can simulate a penis

  27. only the future? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Pretty Women Scramble Men's Sense Of The Future

    To be more thorough, Pretty Women Scramble Men's Senses, period.

  28. And women are just as responsible.... by bckrispi · · Score: 1
    So what's the cause and what's the effect?? When going out to, say, a nice restaurant, getting ready for me is a very straightforward matter. Dress pants, a nice button down shirt, and a tie if necessary. I, like most males of my species, own a single pair of dress shoes. Getting dressed takes no more than 5 minutes.

    My wife, OTOH, can take upwards of two hours trying on different combinations of clothes, shoes and accessories just to determine what she doesn't want to wear. Rest assured, when she does decide, the effect will be stunning. But no less effective had she gone with any dozen of her other combinations.

    Women instinctively know that men are more visual. Whether they admit to it or not, the whole "getting ready" ritual and the end result is to exploit (yes, I said "exploit") the fact that men are, well, very simple and predictable when it comes to certain things. We can't turn away from a pretty face, and if you show a little attention or interest, for the most part, we'll be eating out of your hands. If anyone caught the episode of South Park tonight (probabally the most well written one I've seen in years) you had it spelled out perfectly. Show a little skin, bat the eyes and give a little flirt, and most guys will throw their hearts (and wallets) on the line.

    --
    Xenon, where's my money? -Borno
    1. Re:And women are just as responsible.... by nosfucious · · Score: 1

      Hmmm ... the old fashion furphy.

      It's not to impress men, but it is to outcompete the other women. Hence, they are disgusted and outraged when some else wears the same (or close enough) outfit. The only objective is to be or get "first pick".

      Men on the other hand have never had a hissy fit when someone else wears the exact same shade of black dinner suit/lounge suit/etc.

      As for "more visual" I'll leave that to explain p2p proliferation, Amsterdam and Hamburg.

      --
      Q:I was listening to a CD in Grip and it sounded horrible! What's up? A:Perhaps you are listening to country music
  29. What if you adjust for major? by Pahan · · Score: 1

    An interesting followup might be to look at whether the student's major or area of studies had a relationship to his or her choice and the extent to which that choice was influenced by the treatment (exposure to attractive, as opposed to average, member of opposite sex).

    I think that it's plausable that some relationship exits. For example, students of majors such as Actuarial Science, Economics, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, and the like would be more likely to know exactly how to make a rational choice in this case (i.e. maximize the net present value of their decision by discounting the future payment at a reasonable rate). This could easily influence their base odds of making the rational choice. An interesting question might be whether their ability to use their knowledge in the area would be affected by the treatment. If there is an effect, should workers be allowed to put on their cubicle walls pictures of members of opposite sex that are of only average attractiveness?

    Of course, you wouldn't be able to demonstrate causality, since that would require randomly assigning students to majors.

  30. Why would I make this up? by scottjantz · · Score: 1

    Don't you think its possible that a few people on slashdot actually are socially normal enough to get married, and then a few of those are lucky enough to get a striking wife? I have just done the math, and there are exactly 37.8 lucky bastards.

  31. This explains everything about Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    not supporting Linux. They discount the future rewards available because of the current rewards they are receiving.

  32. Where did you find that out ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because:

    # man woman
    No manual entry for woman

  33. Re: YOu are wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pretty women scramble "the AVERAGE" men's sense of the future. The one that she will probably couple with is the one who is immume to her charms; the one who will be able to better redirect his money, not towards Ipaqs, tablet pc, etc; but something like starting his own company, investing in his education, etc... This is the type of man that she will marry.. the rest she is just using.... or the rest is letting her use them..

    -Eleison

  34. Everyone doesn't do that? by HangingChad · · Score: 1
    However, I do believe this line of reasoning would find its culmination with businessmen throwing their feces at each other during board meetings

    Obviously you've never been to one of our staff meetings.

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  35. Halo Effect by reflexreaction · · Score: 1
    In general, attractive people tend to be perceived as more intelligent, better adjusted, and more popular. This fairly well described phenomenon is the "halo effect". So your wife's "skill" at beauty extends to other categories that are not necessarily related.

    I think that your wife is able to sell more items because her attractiveness halo extends into consumer electronics information. So most guys think that she knows lots about gadgets even though she may know almost nothing abut them. Simply because she's hot.

    Uggh life is unfair.

    --

    We had to destroy the sig to save the sig.
    1. Re:Halo Effect by l0tu53at3r · · Score: 0

      So your wife's "skill" at beauty extends to other categories that are not necessarily related.

      Whether you meant it or not, only thing that i could think of was a D&D weekend my friends and I had a few years ago. We decided to have some fun and one of the "skill checks" was in fact "beauty". Where its similarly used as Charisma, but only affected with characters of the opposite sex. Just brought back some memories that made me laugh fairly well, sorry co-workers, /. did it, not me.

      --
      ---Excuse the bad English, I'm American---
  36. My own research by roesti · · Score: 1

    Originally, when they mentioned pretty, I thought this was what they were talking about.

    However, just to be sure, I also asked Google about "women" and "pretty". The second resulting link was about urination, while the fifth link was about flatulence.

    I have since come to the conclusion that the concept of being pretty is horrendously overrated, bordering on disgusting, and will eventually perish - pretty soon, hopefully.

  37. pretty women scramble men's sense of the future by inode_buddha · · Score: 1

    ...come again?

    --
    C|N>K
  38. Your are off by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    It is exactly 42. Should have talked to the mice beforehand.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  39. Re:Genetics again? Could you give an example? by 1iar_parad0x · · Score: 1
    It's pretty easy to take existing data and fit it into an evolutionary theory, but it's very difficult to find data that proves that the behavior does not come from evolutionary factors.

    I think that's a really interesting point. Can somebody recommend a paper or source on the subject?

    --
    What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean....
  40. Men like sex?!?! WTF! by zwanglos · · Score: 1

    For a second I thought this was the Paris Hilton study. Where Paris Hilton makes this desert storm night vision sex tape and then distributes it on the internet - just as her new show is coming out. So all the guys are like, "slut," but masturbate to the video every night and then subliminally cannot resist watching her show so the sponsors can add to her already enormous wealth. They stopped implanting orgasm inducing electrodes in male mice because they would just trigger it until they died. Men are dumb and I didn't really need this study to remind me of my failings - I'm living the dream baby!

  41. this post raises an important point by themusicgod1 · · Score: 1

    well guys, what _can_ we do to patch this security hole? i mean obviously there are exploits running in the wild and all...the above poster's temporary fix is akin to 'hrm...we seem to have a bug in the kernel...so no one use linux for a few weeks.'

    this is my idea
    we find a female who we can trust and apply them as an interface with local reality.
    it will work like this

    world? -+- trusted woman -+- poor falliable guy.

    because the woman involved has no vested interest in exploiting our lack of future (bonus if said woman is ugly or >300lbs so no lack of future occurs).
    summarry: we need a cadre of women shells to protect us from the world, men, for my proposed man-patch.
    women are not exploitable to this security hole by default, so no action is needed to protect them from it.

    --
    GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
  42. mod parent up! by themusicgod1 · · Score: 1

    fight eula vendor lock-in. support the eff. support the fsf

    --
    GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.