30 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
Why Marriage is Not Like Prostitution
What's more, most males could not possibly afford to buy a
woman's reproductive potential if courtship were a simple economic exchange. What would be an appropriate market price for a nine-month pregnancy, the pain of childbirth, the exhaustion of breast-feeding, and twenty years of maternal care? At least half a million dollars at a basic salary of $25,000, one would think. How much do men spend on courtship in the first few months? Perhaps a tenth of 1 percent of the proper market price. Th... 1 
notes
notesNo amount of gifts and showy displays can pay for the investment a female would have to make in offspring.
24 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Sexual Selection to Explain Human Intelligence
Even if the survivalist theory could take us from the world of
natural history to our capacities for invention, commerce, and knowledge, it cannot account for the more ornamental and enjoyable aspects of human culture: art, music, sports, drama, comedy, and political ideals. At this point the survivalist theories usually point out that along the transverse lies the Central Park Learning Center. Perhaps the ornamental frosting on culture's cake arose through a general human ability to learn ne...Folksonomies: sexual selection mating
Folksonomies: sexual selection mating
1 notes
notesHuman intelligence goes too far and is too artistically-bent, rather than scientifically-bent, to have evolved for survival alone. We should entertain the possibility that our big brains evolved for the same reasons peacocks have ornate tails.
23 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Animals that Marry
A large proportion of mankind, like pigeons and partridges, on reaching maturity, having passed through a period of playfulness or promiscuity, establish what they hope and expect will be a permanent and fertile mating relationship. This we call marriage. 1 notes
notesLike pigeons and partridges, humans seek to enter into a permanent mating relationship.
10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
The Discovery of Bacteria Sexes
I was preoccupied with sex, but not of a type that needed encouragement. The mating habits of bacteria were admittedly a unique conversation pieceçabsolutely no one in his and Odile's social circle would guess bacteria had sex lives. On the other hand, working out how they did it was best left to minor minds. Rumors of male and female bacteria were floating about at Royaumont, but not until early in September, when I attended a small meeting on microbial genetics at Pallanza, did I get the f... 1 notes
notesWatson describes the early discover that bacteria exchange genes, which is mistaken for bacterial sex.
03 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Four Rules of Mating and Paring Strategy
Let us erect the four commandments of mating system theory. First, if females do better by choosing monogamous and faithful males, monogamy will result—unless, second, men can coerce them. Third, if females do no worse by choosing already-mated males, polygamy will result—unless fourth already-mated females can prevent their males fro monogamy will result. The surprising conclusion of game theory is therefore that males, despite their active role in seduction, may be largely passive spect... 1 notes
notesVarious environmental influences that determine polygamy vs monogamy, etc.
