Science Agrees With Your Overbearing Mom About Your Dating Life

You should really let her set you up with her dentist's son. It's evolution.


Here's a depressing new study, just in time for Valentine's Day: Your mom may have been right about that nice boy who never left your hometown. Scientists are giving the world some real talk about dating, saying that settling for less is key to the survival of the entire human race. Yup, seriously.

Starting a family with a just-okay partner is a good evolutionary strategy, researchers say, because it makes more sense to reproduce with a guy who's already around rather than wait for an "ideal" man who may never show up. In fact, holding out for Mr. Right could actually be harmful when it comes to natural selection. 

Researchers from Michigan State University used a computer model to track an organism through thousands of generations of evolution. The organism, like humans, was programmed to make risky decisions in order to survive and pass genes on to the next generation. An example of such a risk was picking a mate, since it's a one-time decision that can completely change the future of not only your life, but also that of the general population.

They found that organisms living in smaller communities (of fewer than 150 people) tended to take fewer risks because resources tend to be scarce. Our ancient ancestors tended to live in smaller groups, and likely settled for whoever was around as a potential mate, instead of holding out to meet a nice caveman from another tribe.

"Primitive humans were likely forced to bet on whether or not they could find a better mate," study co-author Chris Adami said in a press release. "They could either choose to mate with the first, potentially inferior, companion and risk inferior offspring, or they could wait for Mr. or Ms. Perfect to come around. If they chose to wait, they risk never mating." 

The study isn't saying you should have kids with any guy you bring home from the bar. But it is saying that Ryan Gosling is already taken–and if women everywhere held out for him, humanity would be doomed.

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