Beauties make most men reckless
If you were given a choice between getting, say, Sh100,000 today or waiting for a week to receive Sh150,000, what would you do?
Researchers found that most people would wait for next week to pocket Sh150,000.
That was, until Professors Margo Wilson and Martin Daily, a husband-and-wife team of psychologists from McMaster University in Ontario, came along.
The two found out that men are likely to take the Sh100,000 now and forget about the fatter cheque next week after looking at pictures of attractive women (showing only faces, by the way).
Women, on the other hand didn�t go for the money in large enough numbers after looking at pictures of handsome men. But they changed their minds quickly and went for it upfront after looking at pictures of flashy cars!
The Times reports that when Wilson first told her husband that the study would show that beautiful women make men reckless, he wasn�t convinced. When the proof came, he was "astounded".
A Canadian newspaper, referring to the study, colourfully declared: "Hot chicks, ice brains".
The scholars say that when men look at photos of beautiful women, they get into a "mating mindset". And since women are attracted by status and money, the immediate prospect of cash in hand may lead the men to believe that it would raise their chances.
Wilson says the theory by economists that women are more receptive to displays of wealth, might account for why they got more excited by fancy cars.
But, as The Times points out, there were other serious policy issues to be gleaned from the study. For example, it shed a little more light on the circumstances under which people "discount the future".
Thus why do poor save less than rich ones? Not simply because they are poor. Rather, because they are poor, they live a short life than the richer fellows; they are probably less educated and therefore have fewer future job prospects.
Therefore they will give themselves a treat today, rather than wait for a bigger one next week. Why plan for a pension that you will get at 65, when the chances that you will live to be that age are limited? Wilson says that, therefore, the people who don�t plan for a pension, or retirement plan, are not dumb.
Another study from the Heriot-Wart has found that people who have had happy childhoods with their mothers are more likely to move on to be great leaders and good bosses. Those who had a troubled relationship with their mothers are more likely to be inconsistent and ineffective in their management styles.
According to The Independent, the world�s most powerful and influential men - both the good and evil ones - like India�s Mahatma Gandhi, Russia�s Lenin, Germany�s Adolf Hitler, US President George Bush, and Virgin�s Richard Branson, were all "mummy�s boys".
And to imagine that to this day, the worst insult a young girl can throw at a cocky lad is to call him "mummy�s boy"!
New light was also shed on an old subject - Planet Earth. Scientists say they are now able to pinpoint the time when the Earth�s air started to become breathable. It was about 2.45 billion years ago. Anyone visiting the Earth before then, would have had to wear an oxygen mask.
And the good Americans sharpened their anti-terrorism laws and rules. Along with the requirement for airlines flying from some countries to have armed air marshals on board, Washington also ordered all airlines flying into its airspace to ban passengers from queuing for the toilets.
Warren Bennett, chief executive of the Australian Board of Airline Representatives, said of the new loo rule:
"It gives the impression paranoia is taking over and is going to place enormous stress on flight crew to be toilet police". I can see airlines doing what they already tell customers to do at their sales offices: Take a number and wait.
One number that has men shifting uneasily in their seats, was the report that there has been a 29 per cent drop in their sperm count between 1989 and 2002 (in Britain).
The Guardian says, darkly, that this piece of news has come as "another blow to men�s self-image".
It�s not clear how much this represents a global trend. The fertility report, however, seems to have been remarkably short on new insights on why men have been befallen by yet another such misfortune. It was left to The Guardian to fill in. Says the paper:
"Many causes [for the fall in sperm count] have been suggested in recent years: the toxic effect of pesticides and other chemicals, drink, smoking, obesity and tight underwear".
No such problems for establishing the truth over the recent claim that a 14.85 metre python that weighed 445kg, had been discovered in Indonesia. The news shook the world, because it meant the Indonesian snake was both the longest and heaviest reptile ever captured.
Well, The Guardian sent along their man, with a tape measure in hand, to measure the python. The result was disappointing. The snake measured around half the claimed length, about 7 metres, and weighed just over 100 kilogrammes. So what went wrong?
Actually something went right. The tale of the mammoth python seems to have been made up to boost business for the Fragrant Flower Park where it was being kept. The number of visitors rose by 60 per cent in the first two weeks of the python�s arrival.
Another crucial update must surely be about the German cannibal Armin Meiwes, the chap who ate the fellow who volunteered over the Internet to be his meal. Meiwes, a court heard recently, told investigators last year that there is a network of about 800 cannibals across Europe. After a year�s investigation, police have only been able to track down 200. One of them is a German who wanted to be eaten around the table on Russian Orthodox Christmas.
We leave you with what, I suspect, might be a largely useless piece of information. After much sweat and toil, Britain�s Office for National Statistics was happy to announce that Emily is now the most popular girls� name in the English-speaking world.
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Mr Onyango-Obbo is Nation Media Group�s managing editor for media convergence and syndication.
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