tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post4728527912671412094..comments2024-03-22T05:55:48.117-04:00Comments on The Pervocracy: Fitness.Cliff Pervocracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02080142422250604406noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-78338390385528649502009-07-06T02:23:06.095-04:002009-07-06T02:23:06.095-04:00Child birthing deaths, for the mother and child, u...Child birthing deaths, for the mother and child, used to be much higher. For this reason, "spreading seed" around might have been the favored method back yonder. If you pair-bond and your mate loses the child, you gotta go again and wait 9 months. If you lose both of them, you gotta find another mater and wait 9 months. The best strategy would seem to be spreading the "donations" around.<br /><br />Of course, there's the issue of the young being particularly vulnerable but that doesn't necessarily mean finding a life mate. You could organize a harem of a male(perhaps even several) with numerous females. Or pair-bond. Who knows?<br /><br />What people did before agriculture is only tangently related to modern Fathering Success Strategies. There are slightly more skills requires in being a human now than "eat, drink, sleep, fuck/make babies." Tying your shoelaces, plowing a field, or doing math, for example. Having ten babies leaves less time to teach them how to succeed in life, especially if there are five or ten different houses to visit. Getting your Mr. Green Genes out there isn't enough, you have to produce offspring who can thrive in a modern world and create more offspring who can thrive in whatever a modern world is tomorrow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-73405575754132453312009-07-01T17:18:57.974-04:002009-07-01T17:18:57.974-04:00Your argument here is pretty accurate, as far as I...Your argument here is pretty accurate, as far as I know. People like to argue that it's "natural" for guys to fuck around while women try to screen them for worthiness -- because that's what animals do, supposedly. But animal species differ widely from each other, & they're no guide to what humans would be doing under evolutionary conditions. (The hunter-gatherer lifestyle that prevailed during most of our evolution.) Human young are born very vulnerable & stay that way for *much* longer than offspring of most other animals. This is a result (I think) of our larger brains, & the fact that young humans have to spend time learning the rules of the culture they're in, rather than coming equipped with all the instincts they need. A woman trying to gather enough food to live each day, while travelling with one or more kids who can't even walk without her help, would be at a huge survival disadvantage. So a man who helps raise his kids is far more likely to have surviving, healthy kids.<br /><br />I am by no means a biology expert, but I read some of these arguments in The Well Dressed Ape by Hanna Holmes, an interesting pop science book I recommend checking out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-36761285916110057882009-07-01T16:43:09.825-04:002009-07-01T16:43:09.825-04:00I have the vague sensation you may already know wh...I have the vague sensation you may already know what I think on the subject. ;)LabRathttp://www.atomicnerds.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-31733939634369852022009-07-01T15:31:44.246-04:002009-07-01T15:31:44.246-04:00Speaking as a professional, it's a royal PAIN ...Speaking as a professional, it's a royal PAIN to have to save samples for some person who has 10 different kids by 6 different women whilst majoring in Nintendo when I went to medical school. <br /><br />It is very, very dangerous to use biology as the sole explanation for human behaviour. But plenty of guys doink and run. <br /><br />The human sexual response is interesting because it is for procreation AND pair-bonding. Though, as people have pointed out, the more social and intelligent the animal the more likely they will be raging pervs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-8046594543884207902009-07-01T10:49:47.926-04:002009-07-01T10:49:47.926-04:00Bruno - True, but it's fun to speculate. (And...Bruno - True, but it's fun to speculate. (And to knock down people who act like <i>they've</i> figured it all out.)<br /><br />Sex is fun because you "think" you're reproducing, though. You're not a slave to biology, but you're not totally free of it either.Cliff Pervocracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02080142422250604406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-88486213306510064662009-07-01T09:57:19.292-04:002009-07-01T09:57:19.292-04:00We know very little about evolutionary biology, ev...We know very little about evolutionary biology, even in species that we can study much more carefully than humans. DNA analysis has completely upset the traditional conceptions of pair-bonded birds, for example, and even Rosemary and Peter Grant's study of Galapagos finches hasn't made it obvious what reproductive strategy "wins."<br /><br />Besides, I (try to) have sex for fun, not to reproduce.Brunohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11545875839887483257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-74887113633077595362009-07-01T02:50:30.017-04:002009-07-01T02:50:30.017-04:00Oh, I didn't mean it as a reason for men to fu...Oh, I didn't mean it as a reason for men to fuck around, I meant it as an alternative reason for frequent ejaculation. As in men need to ejaculate frequently to keep the supply fresh (quality control?), *not* to impregnate as many women as possible. Of course it's just a theory, but I mentioned it in agreement with what you've said here.Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17055554674087590194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2770580070906411828.post-71447369169735788322009-07-01T02:32:20.617-04:002009-07-01T02:32:20.617-04:00Well said! Also, I have heard it suggested, I thin...Well said! Also, I have heard it suggested, I think by figleaf, that a man's need to frequently share his seed may be more about keeping the supply fresh than about impregnating as many women as possible.Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17055554674087590194noreply@blogger.com