Why Men Cheat

Men's Brains Made Simple

I can't tell you how often women have stopped me to ask the same question. Time after time I'm approached and asked, "Why do men cheat?" Naturally, I respond, "To get a higher SAT score." Because it's all about the college you can get into. Then the women explain to me that what they want to know is why men cheat on their women. It's one of those questions that everyone demands an answer to, but nobody wants to know it. Men cheat for the same reason that they climb Everest, because it's there.

The life cycle is pretty much this: You're born, you get married, and you die. Now, if one can put off getting married, you put off death itself. So you see, the fear of commitment is really a fear of death. And you can't get angry with a guy for being afraid of death, can you? Of course you can.

But once that man is committed, a whole other series of fears and desires kick in. Men are haunted by the concept of the "road not taken." What if we had stayed single? What if we had met someone else? What if I had patented my pet rock idea before that novelty company did? Man, I'd be looking at some serious change then. But I digress. This question, "what if," just echoes around in a man's mind until it can only be addressed by deep inner contemplation or a kickin' tailgate party.

So cheating is sort of like a side trip, an off-road SUV quickie on the path not taken. It's a chance to get out of our rut and do some rutting. This is also reason men don't ask for directions when they drive. We just figure that we'll come across a destination that is just as good, if not better, than the one you were heading for.

The "other woman" represents what we don't have. The woman is no better or worse than our spouse, but she's not our spouse. And that represents possibilities. It represents alternatives. It represents another reality, far from the soul-sucking existence that is our day-to-day, 9-to-5, credit card debited life. Hey, who wouldn't go for another reality once in a while? Isn't that what episode after episode of "Star Trek" tells us? Why would "Star Trek" lie to us?