Like we needed any proof. Source: Supplied

They’ve been numerous studies that show men are more likely to show up in emergency departments for accidental injuries. But then men are more likely to be playing contact and high risk sport, or be employed in higher risk occupations.

But, according to medical journal The BMJ (owned by the British Medical Association), there is a separate class of risk that suggests men are idiots. Or, at least, bigger idiots. That class of risk is the idiot risk — activities that are defined as “senseless risks”, where there’s no real pay-off for the risk and where the outcome is horrifying.

So BMJ looked at winners of the Darwin Awards to analyse the level and number of ‘idiot risks’ that men take versus women.

For those unfamiliar with the Darwin Awards, it’s a doozy. To be nominated for the Darwin Awards, one must essentially have died at their own hands doing something so antithetical to common sense that they’ve improved their demise has actually improved the evolutionary gene pool.

This is never a good idea. Seriously. Source: NewsComAu

Former winners have included:

- A man who hitched a ride in a shopping trolley by attaching it to the back of a train. He was dragged to his death.

- A terrorist who mailed a letter bomb but didn’t put enough stamps on it. The letter was returned, and without thinking, he opened it. Kaboom.

- Three men played their own version of Russian roulette by alternatively stomping down on an unexploded Cambodian landmine, all the while drinking shots. The mine exploded and took all three men with it.

- The man who allowed his cousin to saw off his leg in an insurance scam. The cousin severed a major artery and the man bled to death. Not quite the permanent disability he was after.

- The man who decided to commit armed robbery in a shop. A gun shop. Filled with guns. And customers with guns. Plus, there was a police patrol car parked outside.

BMJ reviewed all Darwin Award winners over a 20-year period. Of the 318 verified nominations in the sample, 282 Darwin Awards were awarded to men and only 36 to women. Men make up 88.7 per cent of Darwin Award winners.

BMJ wrote that these results were consistent with the ‘male idiot theory’ (MIT), supporting the thesis that “men are idiots and idiots do stupid things.” What BMJ can’t quite figure it is why these men would undertake such risks — it’s a puzzler.

However, the journal did concede that the study has its limitations. Namely, that it’s possible women were more likely to nominate men for the Darwin Awards, or that there may be a bias in the selection criteria.