The reason lies in the requirements made by our ancient environment. We lived in small groups on the African savannah. Where women made a living from gathering fruits and vegetables. And where men brought in the meat through hunting.
Hunting is a team effort. Whether you drive small animals to your fellow hunters or you track and stone larger ones, you are better of with a few others. But you don't want to bring anyone along that can't pull his weight. Nobody wants to share the meat and glory with a slacker.
This means a man needs to earn his place on the best hunting party out there. That is what guarantees him and his family the most frequent supply of meat.
How do you get to go with the best team? Every playful contest you can do with other men in the group can serve to impress. Depending on the intended catch, there may be a place for a good runner, an experienced tracker, a expert thrower or a really strong guy.
The team nature and the skill diversity of hunting is the reason why men are so eager to compete in any game whenever they can. And why it is so much about impressing other men. It is the other men that decide who comes along with them and who doesn't. And when other men of your team compete, you better support them. When they win, the best young ones will want to be out on the hunt with you.
Competing in games against neighbouring groups may be a good passtime. But the population density throughout evolution has been too low to consider that the reason behind playing games as much as males do. Of course women better take note of who ends up bringing in the meat, but they care about many more attributes.
It is your male brains that pushes you to accept any challenge. Playing games to show your ability lets everyone know where you can be useful in the hunt. Once your deserved place is secure, you can relax and the displays become few and far between.
In modern times, besides sports, making money is the prominent game for most men. It shows their ranking in ability. But because of the increased group size the game has become without end. The status game that once showed how useful you could be to others in the hunt, is incompatible with our large group size. There is always someone closely behind and above you.
And even though our social circle isn't bigger than it used to be, it has become much more homogeneous. The schooling system, the housing arrangements and our work floor have sorted us along the lines of our abilities. In response to the close competition, your brain tells you to step it up one more time and put in more effort displaying your strengths, or risk losing the precious meat you need for your family to survive.
In the modern world, males have become stuck in their display behaviour, exhausting themselves and their environment.
For a more complete explanation and some more ideas:
http://adriaanb.blogspot.com
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