Don Draper I'm not

... thank the Lord. :) If you watch AMC's Mad Men, like I do, you know that for all his good looks and charm... this guy's got problems.


While I might like to have his looks and charm (not to mention be 4 inches taller and flat-bellied), I do NOT want his problems, so..
I'll just go with what I've got, aesthetically pleasing or not, and try to keep it all functioning. ;)

Watching the show, though, I always marvel at the willingness of female characters of all ages to ... you know ... horizontally succumb to his looks and charm (...plus what's in his wallet). What is it anyway, I wonder, that makes him the total package, especially to women 15 years his junior?

Then, as I am wont to do, I get all analytical about it and, aha!
A theorem emerges! To illustrate, there are some characteristics that typically start strong, and tail off as men age:

Preteen years - high energy, optimism & resiliency
Teens & twenties - peak endurance & sexual drive




Then there are some others which start small and grow as men age:

Fifties & early 60s - high sophistication & peak earnings
Retirement years - broad perspective & worldly wisdom



In between you have a blending of all of these - some waxing and some waning - but they are all there in some measure. What a man's gaining in sophistication, perspective and earnings, compensates for what he's losing in endurance, drive and resiliency.



Okay, so maybe the kurtosis on these graphs is a little high, and the tails should be a little thicker; what can I say - taking them off the internet saved me the trouble of building them myself in Excel. But you get the idea - a man who is a few years either side of 40 really IS the complete package. He's at the Don Draper stage of life, a full dose of manhood in all respects.

And, yeah.. I sort of get why that's attractive. Once upon a time, I might have been there myself. ;)