Physical Beauty:

Rolf Degen

@DegenRolf

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14h

Men strive for greater physical attractiveness in a mate than the partner market provides, and the pickiest men spent more time in singledom. Humans seek to spend considerable portions of their lives in long-term mating relationships, yet remain selective about whom they are willing to partner with. We examined whether pickiness (i.e., minimum mate standards) predicts how many years individuals have spent single, in uncommitted relationships, and in committed relationships. A representative Norwegian sample indicated their pickiness... The sample's pickiness was generally greater than the population could be expected to live up to. When all traits were averaged together, few participants were willing to partner with someone below average, and around a quarter of individuals could be classified as requiring a partner two standard deviations greater in desirability than the expected population average. [In practical terms, being two standard deviations above the population average means an individual or item ranks in the top 2.3% of desirability relative to the rest of that population, assuming a normal distribution, or "bell curve"]. For men, greater pickiness for physical attractiveness predicted more years single, fewer years in committed relationships, and fewer committed relationships overall. Furthermore 85% and 80% of men required their partner to be at least average or above average in facial and bodily attractiveness, respectively. As such, most men reported being unwilling to partner with someone below average in physical attractiveness. These findings may be interpreted as men's expectations for physical attractiveness being excessive, thereby resulting in increased singlehood. The finding that pickiness for physical attractiveness increased singlehood among men need not reflect that men struggle to set realistic standards. On the contrary, it may be adaptive for men to trade half a year of additional singlehood per increase in pickiness for attractiveness in exchange for acquiring a mate of greater mate value. Among women, overall pickiness was associated with more years in uncommitted relationships, but not with more years single. At the observed-variable level women's standards for physical attractiveness did not appear excessive, sometimes falling below the expected population average. For bodily attractiveness, more women were willing to partner with someone below average (35%) than required an above-average partner (23%). Moreover, the greater women's overall pickiness, the more they reported both having been in uncommitted relationships they wished had become committed and being single due to interest in partners unwilling to commit.

Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman:

I particularly enjoyed reading the following chapters:

• On Actually Doing Things
• On the Power of a ‘Done List’
• Decision Hunting
• Finish Things (The Magic of Completion)
• On Doing Things Dailyish
• Three Hours
• Stop Being So Kind to Future You
• How to Start from Sanity
• Scruffy Hospitality
• On the Solace of Doubt

I plan to reread these chapters.

Die Schreibroutine am Morgen / The Morning Writing Routine:

Ich habe nun wieder eine Schreibroutine, bei der ich rasch und zügig in der Früh ein bis drei A4 Seiten Überlegungen zu Papier bringe. Es ist vermutlich schon fünf Jahre her, dass ich zuletzt diese Schreibroutine in solch einer Weise ausgeführt habe (also dass da am Morgen, rasch nach dem Aufstehen und mit großer Regelmäßigkeit, sogleich ein paar Seiten Überlegungen, Pläne und Reflexionen niedergeschrieben worden sind).

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I have once again established a writing routine in which I quickly put one to three A4 pages of thoughts down on paper in the morning. It has probably been about five years since I last followed this routine in this way—that is, regularly writing down a few pages of thoughts, plans, and reflections shortly after getting up.

Meditations for Mortals:

I read Week 1 and Week 2 of Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. The book is divided into four weeks.

Verliebtheit:

Was macht die Verliebtheit mit einem Mann?

Intuition:

Sich auf manche Ahnungen eine Zeit lang einzulassen: Was sagt Dir die Ahnung?

Ruhe:

Wie viele Ereignisse rückblickend doch letztlich "völlig egal" waren. Wo man doch überall hätte Ruhe bewahren können ...