Coffin Corner

Thursday, 28 February 2013

Dear Bill,

Please find this week's posts on maybeido.com below.

Irish families

Who is likely to have a big family and what does it mean for the children growing up in them? Read More

Saying 'I love you'

Being in a relationship means having to play the role of supporter to your partner. It means showing them you’re there, that you’re on their side and that you always have time for them; it also means giving them a sense of security and love that makes them feel important and safe. Read More

How to stay together

Couples who want a happy marriage should do their homework. Read More

The honeymoon is over

Couples start taking each other for granted three years and six months into their marriage, a new UK poll reveals. Read More

Enduring love

As audiences chuckle at films such as new romantic comedy "I Give It A Year," researchers at The Open University have been looking at what keeps couples together after the flurry of Valentine's Day romance is over. Read More

Regrets - I've had a few

Dating disasters, awkward sex and the struggle to get a dream career off the ground are all experienced by the 20-somethings in hit TV show Girls. Read More

Lovers' hearts

When modern-day crooner Trey Songz sings, "Cause girl, my heart beats for you," in his romantic ballad, Flatline, his lyrics could be telling a tale that's as much physiological as it is emotional, according to a University of California, Davis, study that found lovers' hearts indeed beat for each other, or at least at the same rate. Read More

Chivalry

Sir Lancelot was prepared to risk his honour as a knight, death at the hands of the villain Maleagant, and even the wrath of his king to win the love of Queen Guinevere.

And it seems modern men are little different from the knights of Arthurian legend.

A new study reveals that men are willing to take dangerous gambles to get the attention of the opposite sex, and the romantic tendency is apparently firmly rooted in evolution.

One version of the Lancelot legend has the gallant knight falling in love after catching only the briefest glance of King Arthur's wife Guinevere.

After she is kidnapped by the evil knight Maleagant, Lancelot is willing to jeopardise his honour as a knight by riding in a cart reserved for criminals, then face death in a duel to rescue her.

Finally, after further trials, he risks the jealous rage of King Arthur himself by becoming Guinevere's adulterous lover.

And it's not just Lancelot: from Romeo to Robin Hood, myths and fiction are are littered with men willing to face potentially deadly trials in the name of romance.

But taking risks to impress women has a strong foundation in real life, where the willingness to face dangers for the fairer sex has been commonplace since the dawn of man.

A recent study from the Journal of Risk Research finds risk-taking behaviour has in part been evolved to enhance an individual's ability to attract a mate.

According to the study: 'In the evolutionary past, our ancestors were faced with a hazardous environment where they were forced to take greater risks in order to find shelter, food and sexual partners.

'Thus, individuals who played it safe in that they did not take any risks at all, were unlikely to survive.'

So, it appears, men have inherited this willingness to face dangers for women from our risk-friendly ancestors.

But in a modern age where these primeval problems are all but extinct, men are looking for other risks to boast their willingness to face danger.

The study looks at three examples of risk taking behaviour in men and women: sexual risk taking (like unprotected sex), gambling and reckless driving.

In all three tests, men were more likely to take the inherent risks involved once a romantic element has been induced.

Women however showed no more desire to take unnecessary risks.

Of course, the authors note, while these activities may have perceived short term benefits, their long-term effects are potentially devastating.

That's something wannabe white knights may want to consider in the run-up to Valentine's Day.

Source: Damien Gayle, Daily Mail, February 12, 2013

Yours sincerely,

Kevin Andrews

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Sender: Kevin Andrews, Level 1, 651 Doncaster Road DONCASTER VIC 3108 AUSTRALIA.