Why Men Don’t Ask For Directions. It’s About Sex

Ever wonder why men don’t ask for directions? According to researchers at the University of Utah, it’s about sex, maybe. A U of Utah news release reports that researchers at the school who studied two African tribes found that men evolved better navigation ability than women because men with better spatial skills  can roam farther and have children with more mates. The researchers believe that the two tribes they chose to study, the Twe and Tjimba, were good subjects because they travel over distances of 120 miles during a year, “navigating on foot in a wide-open natural environment like many of our ancestors.” The tribes also have a comparatively open sexual culture, with many men having children by women other than their wives. So how, exactly, does mating pressure favor navigation skills? “Navigation ability facilitates traveling longer distances and exploring new environments,” says Elizabeth Cashdan, the study’s senior author. “And the farther you travel, the more likely you are to encounter new mating opportunities.”