Men are Idiots: Darwin Award Study Reveals Women are Better at Survival

A study may just support the fact that men are idiots--sort of. Scientists have examined sex differences in idiotic risk-taking behavior, and have found that when it comes to not thinking, men may come out on top.

In the past, researchers have documented sex differences in risk seeking behavior, emergency hospital admissions, and mortality. Yet very little study has been given to the sex differences in idiotic behaviors. That's why scientists decided to take a closer look.

The scientists reviewed data on idiotic behaviors demonstrated by winners of the Darwin Award over a 20 year period, noting the sex of the winner. In order to win the Darwin Award, nominees need to improve the gene pool by eliminating themselves from the human race using astonishingly stupid methods.

So what exactly does it take to win? Candidates have included a man stealing a ride home by hitching a shopping cart to the back of a train, only to be dragged two miles to his death; another included a terrorist who posted a letter bomb with insufficient postage stamps-and then opened the same letter when it was returned to him.

Of the 413 Darwin Award nominations, 332 were independently verified and confirmed by the Darwin Awards Committee. Of these, 14 were shared by male and female nominees, which left 318 cases for testing.

Of these 318 cases, 282 Darwin Awards were given to males, and just 36 awards were given to females. This means that males made up a staggering 88.7 percent of Darwin Award winners.

The findings are actually consistent with the "male idiot theory," which states that many of the differences in risk seeking behavior between the sexes may be explained by the observation that some men are idiots and idiots do stupid things. That said, the study has limitations; for example, women may be more likely to dominate men for a Darwin Award, or the sex difference may reflect differences in alcohol use between men and women.

That said, the findings do show that further study is needed when it comes to risk-taking behaviors.

The findings are published in the journal The BMJ.

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