by @ArkhamAsylumdoc

I realize that many will read the title of this post and experience an involuntary, familiar gag. I assure you, this is not recycled social commentary. At least not entirely.

Listen, I’m tired of flying my geekflag at half-mast. For several reasons—most of them professional—I carry it like a small accessory and nod seriously throughout the day. Sometimes, though, I have the impulse to wear it like a cape, crash through the window, and fly out of the building like a manic harpee. This was one of those mornings. Some of you were tuned in to my twitter reaction surrounding New Scientist’s Life section article on “Why geeks get the girls.” This is not the first time we’ve heard these infectious, alliterative phrases (and we all know they attract traffic). The actual post, which stands up well on its own, summarizes behavioral research surrounding mate choice. In a nutshell: attributes such as cognitive performance, problem-solving, and other forms of “intelligence,” based on human and animal models, appear to attract female mates. Fascinating. Research by evolutionary psychologists, due to the very nature of their work, examines male and female behavior—thereby, polarizing them—in order to elucidate what drives coupling, sex, long-term relationships, etc. Evolutionary psychology, though controversial at times, has its place in the sciences. As I do with many New Scientist posts, I’ll digest this compilation and move on… (more…)