Do Nerds Have Better Sperm?

mcgrew writes "The question of how we loveless nerds managed to not be bred out of the species genome may have been answered. According to New Scientist, we have better sperm. According to the article, men who scored high on a battery of intelligence tests boasted high counts of healthy sperm, while low scorers tended to have fewer and more sickly little guys. ... Though the connections between brains and sperm were 'not awesome, they're there and highly significant.' All things held equal, good sperm and good brains go together." Don't start gloating yet. Another recent study found that the gene that makes you good at Halo also makes you a premature ejaculator. A study of 200 Dutch men found that those with a premature ejaculation problem all had a version of a gene that controls the release of serotonin. These men seem to "have very quick reflexes. They may be excellent at playing tennis or computer games." Remember, if you smoke after sex you're doing it too fast.

Re:Worthless study, won't change a thing

[gweihir]

If females were better at choosing, the human race would not be in the sorry state it is in....

Re:Get out

[DanTheStone]

Team Fortress 2? An RTS? I'm guessing you mean FPS. Real-Time Strategy games don't tend to require lightening-fast "reflexes", at least for the skill levels of those 99% of players.

Re:Worthless study, won't change a thing

[Atrox666]

Nope the screwed up a**hole still gets the girl. These women cry on your shoulder and complain, about how bad they are treated but they'll still end up with the loser. It took me a while to figure this out. Women have their rules now I have the 3rd date rule, put out or get out. Chances are if she hasn't screwed you by then she's not that interested in you or she lacks any real sex drive. Either way I've got better things to do with my time. I think from an evolutionary stand point our species has traditionally rewarded and elevated the a**hole. This is why we are mostly a worthless species that is becoming more worthless by the day. Who's the richest most famous geek in the world? Gates the guy who invented basically nothing just ripped it all off. Who runs our countries, the best people we have to offer or a bunch of thieving parasites? Who runs our giant corporations the pillars of our community or money grubbing scum who maim and kill for the next quarter's numbers? None of this is new, our behaviors change our genetics just as our genetics change our behavior. Women are programmed to gold dig the best target. The women who historically didn't did not pass their genetics on to successful progeny. Trust me the women who get stuck on the screwed up men are just following their animal instincts honed over centuries. They should be avoided like the plague.

Re:Worthless study, won't change a thing

[Anonymous Coward]

It's trivial for nearly anyone to get sex, and not too much harder to get an at least quasi-functional relationship. Where most guys go wrong is in being timid. This is fixable the same way as fear of heights: do the thing you're afraid of, repeatedly, until it doesn't scare you anymore.

Re:Worthless study, won't change a thing

[Fyz]

Wow dude, that's a pretty bleak outlook. Those who are chosen to reproduce from an evolutionary standpoint are those with the best ability to survive. And the reason why we geeks have brains that are like this is because being smart is an important fitness parameter.

Also, blaming it on evolution is only half the answer and a pretty weak one IMHO. Natural selection didn't create skyscrapers and sonnets, societies did.

Having value and being able to communicate that fact is what attract women. The assholes are good at communicating value. But those who are the happiest in their relationships are probably not the assholes. It's just the people who have become good at something and also good at communicating it.

If you have had many failed relationships, and find yourself frustrated over the fact that they never seem to pan out, maybe it's time to look if you're doing it wrong from a strategic perspective.

Re:Worthless study, won't change a thing

[telbij]

First of all, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Girls do not prefer assholes, they just don't like sniveling self-loathing weaklings. Get some real self esteem and make something of yourself and the girls will come.

Something else I should point out too. A lot of "nerds" like to think they're smarter than other people and constantly set up all kinds of straw man logic in their head to maintain this illusion. It may take intelligence to be a good nerd, but it doesn't take a nerd to be intelligent. Basing your self-worth on your intelligence is a good way to come off as an asshole yourself as you subconsciously attempt to demonstrate it to everyone. The truly smart know how to use it to their advantage and don't care if anyone knows it.

As for world leadership, well, of course you are right there, but it can not be any different. Only the power hungry and greedy have the drive to get there, so it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Keep in mind (from the author)

[Anonymous Coward]

The link between sperm quality and intelligence is statistical, so lots of nerds will shoot blanks and many, many, many idiots will get one through the crease. But on average, intelligence and good sperm go together -- at least among 425 Vietnam vets tested in the 1980s. In my opinion, this effect made more of a difference in Paleolithic humans than in MIT or Caltech undergrads. Although most modern cultures are effectively polygynous (they have fewer fathers than mothers, on average), cultures advanced enough to have nerds or geeks are are probably the most monogamous (think Silicon Valley). So in between World of Warcraft marathons and Star Trek episodes, even the most hard-up geek get lucky. Whereas 20,000 years ago, being smart meant being sexy. (Being dumb meant being dead).