http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/17-to-1-reproductive-success

A recent analysis of modern DNA found a rise in the ratio of female reproduction to male reproduction about 50,000 years ago - roughly 4,000 to 8,000 years after the invention of agriculture.

Once upon a time, 4,000 to 8,000 years after humanity invented agriculture, something very strange happened to human reproduction. Across the globe, for every 17 women who were reproducing, passing on genes that are still around today—only one man did the same.

So in these times even the 80:20 rule did not hold. Only 6% of men overall succeeded to reproduce.

"It wasn't like there was a mass death of males. They were there, so what were they doing?" asks Melissa Wilson Sayres

[...]

a biological anthropologist, hypothesizes that somehow, only a few men accumulated lots of wealth and power, leaving nothing for others. These men could then pass their wealth on to their sons, perpetuating this pattern of elitist reproductive success.

Are... are you suggesting that that wealth and power (read: status) determine a male's chances to reproduce, and are you suggesting further, that it wasn't like there were only 6% nice guys left, who the female population could choose from?

Then, as more thousands of years passed, the numbers of men reproducing, compared to women, rose again. "Maybe more and more people started being successful,"

But... but does this mean, that improving myself and striving to become more successful and raising my status could indeed be the better sexual strategy? I thought just being myself would be sufficient and guaranteed me a good chance to "find the right person"!

So much for what our DNA can tell us. This study, published last week in the journal Genome Research, can't directly account for why the dip occurred. Instead, the team members tried to think through other explanations. "Like was there some sort of weird virus that only affected males across the whole globe, 8,000 years ago?" Wilson Sayres asks

Dat hamster though.

Nature is a harsh taskmaster, but so, it seems, is human culture. Although the popular notion is that farming and settlement cushioned people against "survival of the fittest," this study shows that's not true. Something cultural happened 8,000 years ago that's marked us even today.

And it's still happening.

Gentlemen, you know what you've got to do. Don't let yourself be fooled by the illusion that you could harvest without having sown first and that there could be success without work. Hypergamy is real and in order to win at the game you've got to acknowledge its rules.

See you at the gym.