[ExI] who is smarter?

[Stuart LaForge]

Quoting William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat  
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>:

> Regarding various intellectual and other skills needed by society, who is
> likely to choose a mate above them in these skills, and who is more likely
> to choose a mate below them?
>
> Women tend to marry above - men below.
>
> Who is smarter?

Although the issue is complicated by various cultural considerations  
such as child-support, media, etc, the basic biology is that both  
women and men are making the best choice available to them based on  
what resources they are staking on a mate. Ultimately, the man has a  
single ejaculation at stake and those are pretty easy to  come by for  
a man. For a woman, the stakes are, at a minimum, a nine month  
gestation period where she will be less able to outrun predators. Men  
use a shotgun approach to mating while women are snipers that  
carefully line up their shots. If you were spending a hundred dollars  
on lunch, you would be more inclined to order the filet mignon and  
lobster than the grilled cheese sandwich that you would have settled  
for it lunch was only a buck.

Stuart LaForge