Q. “Why do married men die before their wives?”
A. “Because they want to.”
A recent study shows that men from polygamous cultures outlive those from monogamous ones. But it seems to be a correlative finding. Here’s the real conclusion:
If female survival is the main explanation for male longevity, then monogamous and polygamous men would live for about the same length of time. Instead, it seems that fathering more kids with more wives leads to increased male longevity. Men, then, live long because they’re fertile well into their grey years.
The explanation could be both social and genetic. Men who continue fathering kids into their 60s and 70s could take better care for their bodies because they have mouths to feed. But evolutionary forces acting over thousands of years could also select for longer-lived men in polygamous cultures.
In short, the men in these cultures live longer because they are the Provider, and must take care of themselves so that the children will eat.
Bill Hendrickson, your wives just called.
