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Author Topic:   Have we halted our own Evolution?
EZscience
Member (Idle past 5154 days)
Posts: 961
From: A wheatfield in Kansas
Joined: 04-14-2005


Message 76 of 79 (303273)
04-11-2006 3:34 PM
Reply to: Message 74 by crashfrog
04-11-2006 3:28 PM


Re: Sexual Selection in Humans
Crash writes:
what's the point of all that sex?
consolidation of the pair bond?
diversion of otherwise aggressive male tendencies?
gratification of the basic male desire to inseminate?
I wonder how many cases of spousal murder are associated with wives withholding sex from their husbands ?
(ABE) ...and it wouldn't be because they were wanting another baby.
This message has been edited by EZscience, 04-11-2006 02:37 PM

This message is a reply to:
 Message 74 by crashfrog, posted 04-11-2006 3:28 PM crashfrog has replied

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crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1467 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 77 of 79 (303327)
04-11-2006 6:23 PM
Reply to: Message 76 by EZscience
04-11-2006 3:34 PM


Re: Sexual Selection in Humans
It was a rhetorical question, but you've answered it excellently.
I wonder how many cases of spousal murder are associated with wives withholding sex from their husbands ?
I don't know that there's a link. I know that the vast majority of rapists, for instance, are already in sexual relationships, so it's hardly a crime borne of "dry spell" desperation. I couldn't say for sure, of course.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 76 by EZscience, posted 04-11-2006 3:34 PM EZscience has not replied

  
pesto
Member (Idle past 5588 days)
Posts: 63
From: Chicago, IL
Joined: 04-05-2006


Message 78 of 79 (303485)
04-12-2006 9:55 AM
Reply to: Message 74 by crashfrog
04-11-2006 3:28 PM


Re: Sexual Selection in Humans
crashfrog writes:
Point taken, but the divorce of recreational from reproductive sexual activity is not 100%. I wouldn't put it anywhere near 100%.
Less than 1 out of every 500 acts of penetrative, heterosexual intercourse actually results in a birth.
I'm not sure that would be the best measure. I think a better measure would be to compare numbers of births due to "recreational" vs. "reproductive" intercourse. I'm not sure exaclty how we would draw that line, though.
When I think about it, though, you are probably still right that most births result from reproductive intercourse, but it would be very interesting to get those numbers.
This message has been edited by pesto, 04-12-2006 10:04 AM

This message is a reply to:
 Message 74 by crashfrog, posted 04-11-2006 3:28 PM crashfrog has replied

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crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1467 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 79 of 79 (303506)
04-12-2006 11:07 AM
Reply to: Message 78 by pesto
04-12-2006 9:55 AM


Re: Sexual Selection in Humans
My point is just that, in humans, conception is such an unlikely result of sex as a result of biological factors that hardly seem necessary - hostile Ph of vaginal mucus, cryptic female fertility, nearly impenetrable oocyte membranes - that birth control seems almost built-into women. So it hardly seems like a supportable contention that sex in humans is primarily for reproduction; the remarkably low frequency of conception seems to have the purpose of allowing mated pairs to copulate with considerable frequency without resulting in an unsupportable number of offspring.
In other words we're supposed to do it a lot, for reasons a few of which EZscience has already laid out.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 78 by pesto, posted 04-12-2006 9:55 AM pesto has not replied

  
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