[f17]

You're absolutely right, of course. I only note this: smart men are likely to seek more lucrative fields if they're informed about the actual odds. Having a high IQ doesn't mean all that much if you haven't got data.

Software plays on male quixotry, yes, but it's able to do so because the average 22-year-old man has friends of the same age group and has never dated anyone older than 22 (because, honestly, he can't... he has nothing to offer women 25+ and they aren't interested). Women, who usually have dated (or at least have friends who have dated) men in their late 20s and possibly 30s, are exposed to high-quality information about which careers actually deliver on their promises; men are not. Men might get advice from their parents, but that's going to be 30 years out of date, in a country where the career game has gone from Easy Mode to Psychopath Mode in a generation.