h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So, I was thinking about human relationships from an evolutionary standpoint today in my calculus class (rather than doing calculus) and I mentally stumbled upon a solution to the age old question "why do nice guys finish last?" Now, this may be common knowledge, but it is news to me and this is my journal, so bugger off if you don't like it.
Growing up as a "nice guy" (i.e. treating women like people rather than things), I've had to overcome a variety of social obstacles. Aside from the occasional being deposited in the waste basket (literally) by those who's ego are inversely proportional to their mental capacity, there was, of course, the problem of having to deal with my female classmates' chronic complaints about the jerks that they found fit to date (yes, the jerks with the wastebaskets). There I found myself sitting, listening patiently about how she can't ever find a nice boy who treats women with respect and is sensitive to how she is feeling, feeling myself as if a giant neon sign were towering over my head prominently flashing the phrase "COME AND GET ME!" It never occurred to me until this morning, however, exactly WHY THE HELL such a social phenomenon exists in the first place. And that reason, I believe, is simply genetic diversity.
If you think about it in Darwinian terms, the female of the species is more likely to chose that partner which is most evolutionarily beneficial to mate with. Of course, when I first encountered this phenomenon in grade school, sex really wasn't the first thing on everyone's mind (though things have seem to changed for the better) but we are still programmed, even from a young age, with the same psychological factors that will lead us to chose our mate later on in life. The reason, it would seem to me, why women chose to date the men who will use them, abuse them and then leave them high and dry is because, from a purely genetic standpoint, this kind of relationship is optimal. The survival of many species (including our or) depends upon genetic diversity. Without genetic diversity our entire species could be wiped clear off of the face of the planet with just one strain of bacteria / virus / reality television show. For optimal genetic diversity, the female finds the male (usually hanging out near the local wastebaskets) who seems the most capable of treating her like a disposable possession, goes on a couple of dates, gets knocked-up on a particularly good one, and for some reason can never find "Joe-wastebasket" again. Genetically, of course, this is optimal because she will never be with the same partner longer than a few days, and the genetic material that she passes on will be a colorful combination of hers and who-knows who every time!
Of course, we the nice-guys, "win out" in the end. When we reach thirty-something, when she's spent her better years trapped in this perverted cycle, and all the "Joe-wastebaskets" have so many child support checks to pay they've dropped out of their fraternities and joined the ranks of the "sandwich engineers", she'll eventually see us for who we are -- a healthy paycheck.

or...you could start dating more mature women who have a little more sense.

just a thought

Touche!

I'm a nice guy and perpetually single. Being a gay one the Darwinian aspect doesn't really factor (nice theory!) but I suppose the psychology is the same.

Well, I've not proposed an umbrella hypothesis. I really don't know enough about evolution and its relationship to homosexuality. I should really look into that.

I wasn't trying to make a point: your rant makes a lot of sense and it seems to me that the psychology applies to gay people as much as straight people, even though the biological isn't there.

Sorry, this is all coming out heavier than I intend: beers on a Sunday and all that.

BTW, welcome to h2g2 dude.

Ahem. even though the biological *imperative* isn't there.

Meh... I don't claim to be a psychologist. I'm a physics student who has nothing better to do during calculus but think about absurd stuff.