A study has revealed men really are the more stupid sex.

Analysis of the Darwin Awards — an annual review of the most foolish ways people have died — has found almost 90 percent of the accolades were “won” by males. Worthy candidates include a terrorist who opened his own letter bomb and a man who attempted to travel by hitching a shopping trolley to a train.

It is named after Charles Darwin, the scientist famous for the theory of evolution. Nominees have to improve the gene pool by eliminating themselves from the human race using foolish methods.

Examples include the man who shot himself in the head with a “spy pen” weapon to show his friend it was real and a thief attempting to purloin a steel cable from a lift shaft — and unbolted it while standing in the lift which then plummeted to the ground, killing him.

Of 332 independently verified nominations, 14 were ruled out of the analysis because they were shared by males and females — usually adventurous couples in compromising positions.

Of the 318 valid cases remaining, 282 (88.7 percent) were awarded to males and just 36 to females, a gender difference entirely consistent with male idiot theory (MIT) that states men are idiots and idiots do stupid things. Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researchers said it is puzzling that men are willing to take such unnecessary risks — simply as a rite of passage, in pursuit of male social esteem or solely in exchange for “bragging rights.”

Dr. Dennis Lendrem of the University of Newcastle said: “Idiotic risks are defined as senseless risks, where the apparent payoff is negligible or non-existent, and the outcome is often extremely negative and often final.” According to “male idiot theory” (MIT), many of the differences in risk seeking behavior, emergency department admissions, and mortality may be explained by the observation that men are idiots and idiots do stupid things.

研究证明 —— 男人的确是蠢货！

一项研究表明男人确实比女人蠢。达尔文奖每年都会评出死法最愚蠢的人。

通过对达尔文奖的分析发现：90%的奖项都由男性“获得”。

让人印象深刻的获奖人选有：打开自己做的炸弹邮件的恐怖分子以及把购物车挂在火车上旅行的男子。

这个奖项以著名科学家、进化论提出者查尔斯·达尔文的名字命名。被提名者用最愚蠢的方式毁灭自己，将自己移出人类基因库。

例如，一名男子为向朋友证明一支“间谍笔”是真的，将其射向自己的头部。一名盗贼试图偷电梯的钢缆，在电梯中时就打开钢缆，而后电梯猛然坠落致其死亡。

在332项已经过分别核实提名中，14项被排除在外，因为奖项由男女共享。这种情况一般是爱冒险的夫妻处于不宜公开的状况下。

余下的318个有效提名中282项（88.7%）授给男性，只有36项授给女性。此性别差异完全符合“男人是傻瓜理论” — 该理论认为：男人是傻瓜，傻瓜做傻事。

研究人员发表在《英国医学杂志》的文章称，男人仅仅把做蠢事作为一种仪式，愿意冒这种毫无必要的险去追求男性社会地位，或者仅仅以此换取“吹嘘的权利”，这真令人困惑。”

英国纽卡索大学的丹尼斯· 伦卓蒙博士说：“愚蠢的冒险被定义为无意义的冒险，这些冒险的收获极小甚至没有，后果也通常是极其不好而且无法挽回。”

根据“男人是傻瓜理论”，男性爱自找危险、急诊入诊以及死亡率高均可由“男人是傻子，傻子做傻事”来解释。

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【进化】

jìnhuà

evolution

change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift

【吹嘘】

chuīxū

brag

use boastful language, boast