Thanks! I prefer to think of it as pettiness or peevishness. I knew there would be no risk.

>> I knew there would be no risk.

...as long as the plumming tape was made from Teflon, and nothing else.

In the fashion of Barry Marshall. https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-doctor-who-drank...

Interesting, my mum did get her medical degree from that institution…

I assume the majority of the most important science humans have done was to win an argument or impress a woman (or, more rarely but more notably, a man).

Mostly men, for tenure or boasting purposes. Until quite recently women were excluded from science, as they were excluded from so many other interesting things.

Both criminals and scientists put in the biggest amount of energy into their "career" before they hit 30. Trying to impress a mate makes sense as an explanation. The peaking physical condition and declining Testosterone production after 30 might be another reason.

Depending on how reductionist you want to get (and if you're anything like me, that's quite reductionist), most everything we do is at least tangentially associated with impressing a mate.