Being a Man Makes You a Bad Driver

Sorry, guys, it’s true: Women have science—evolutionary psychology!—on their side of the debate about which sex are better drivers. According to the Social Issues Research Centre , our Fred Flintstone-era brains cause us to drive erratically:

The differences between the sexes in terms of their risk-proneness while driving can be explained, at least in part, using an evolutionary psychology perspective. This proposes that much of neural circuitry of the human brain evolved to meet the requirements of societies and cultures very different from our own – that of the hunter gatherer – that existed for over 99% of our evolution as a species. Our 21st century skulls contain essentially ‘stone-age’ brains, and the brains of men are women are different in certain crucial respects.

Stone-age man did not drive. But the legacy of his hunting, aggressive and risk-taking past – qualities that enabled him to survive and mate, thereby passing on his genes to future generations – are still evident in the way in which he typically drives his car.

(Via: Freakonomics )

?

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Enduring Legacy of the Spanish Mystics

Itxu Díaz

Last autumn, I spent a few days at my family’s coastal country house in northwestern Spain. The…

The trouble with blogging …

Joseph Bottum

The trouble with blogging, RJN, is narrative structure. Or maybe voice. Or maybe diction. Or maybe syntax.…

The Bible Throughout the Ages

Mark Bauerlein

The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Bruce Gordon joins in…