4 ms·
Not really sure on the whole boys being more vulnerable to diseases thing, but most if not all of these factors come down to men having a higher tolerance for r
by ravenstine 3y ago
Not really sure on the whole boys being more vulnerable to diseases thing, but most if not all of these factors come down to men having a higher tolerance for risk. Considering that the average life expectancy for men is 5 fewer years, and that said average is still in the elderly category, that cost seems extraordinarily beneficial.
- reducesuffering 3y agoI doubt it's all. Taller people generally don't live as long and men are taller on average, for one. Also quite sad US male life expectancy is 74.3. But that's primarily because of red southern states having even worse around ~70.
- MasterYoda900 3y agoWhen 900 years old you are, look as tall, you will not.
- passwordoops 3y agoSo is being male a proxy for height, or is height a proxy for being male?
- BlandDuck 3y agoyes to both
- ravenstine 3y agoIt's sad on an individual level, but not necessarily at the species level. If men are taking more risks than women but only to the degree that they still die on average in their elderly years, that means they are overall still remaining relevant in their sexually valuable years and sticking around long enough that they're likely to pass down some generational knowledge to grandchildren. Doesn't seem that bad to me considering how low life expectancy used to be.
- sabellito 3y agoThis comment [1] did a much better job at summarizing the article (that already has a very short Conlusion section). [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38654818 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38654818
- makeitdouble 3y agoThe genetic explaination I heard was having both full X chromosomes allowed for balance and backup when part of it is corrupted/non functional.
- scarmig 3y agoI was curious to see how this works in birds, which have the ZW system, where Z is the larger chromosome and which males have two of. And, as it turns out, male birds live longer than female ones.
- _yb2s 3y agoDeath from accidents is relatively rare in wealthy countries, yet the difference is still there. If this were true, men and women would have about the same median and mode life expectancy, with only the average showing a difference, and that is not the case.
- Workaccount2 3y agoI'm curious if there is a single occupational or accidental death metric that is lead by women. Men are even in lead for drug overdoses, which would seemingly be gender neutral[1]. [1]https://nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/images/2023-Drug-od-death-rates-1.jpeg https://nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/images/2023-Drug-od...
- LeafItAlone 3y agoYou’ve listed risk and cost, but what are up considering benefits of those risks?
- ravenstine 3y agoDo you mean to ask what cost is up in relation to the benefits of male risk taking?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hotpotamus 3y ago> that cost seems extraordinarily beneficial Except for the dead men I presume.