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From: milt@sgi.com (Milton Tinkoff)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,alt.romance,soc.men,soc.women,soc.singles
Subject: Re: Are Humans Naturally Monogamous?
Message-ID: <1990Nov25.020721.23097@odin.corp.sgi.com>
Date: 25 Nov 90 02:07:21 GMT
References: <1990Oct26.000754.24765@odin.corp.sgi.com> <4836@lure.latrobe.edu.au> <1990Nov22.191009.20772@watserv1.waterloo.edu>
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In article <1990Nov22.191009.20772@watserv1.waterloo.edu> alternat@watserv1.waterloo.edu (Ann Hodgins) writes:
>In article <4836@lure.latrobe.edu.au> ECSGRT@lure.latrobe.edu.au (Geoffrey Tobin, Electronic Engineering) writes:
>>In article <1990Oct26.000754.24765@odin.corp.sgi.com>, milt@sgi.com (Milton Tinkoff) writes:
>>> In article <1990Oct24.175532.9407@pmafire.UUCP> reiser@pmafire.UUCP (Steve Reiser) writes:
>>>>Without cultural training would human being by there biological nature
>>>>be monogamous or is it culturally ingrained from childhood?
>>> 
>>> I think it is culturally ingrained.  Men can impregnate as many fertile
>>> women as they can have sex with.  This allows men to 'spread their DNA
>>> around' as much as they can.  Women, on the other hand can only bear one
>>> child at a time.  Therefore it is evolutionarily(?) advantageous for a
>>> man not to be monogamous. 
>
>Yes but...
>if a man 'spreads his DNA around' and all his chidren die, that is a
>losing strategy.  In nature, if a man stays with a woman at least as long
>as she needs his help, that will greatly increase the chances that his
>will child will live and live to reproduce.

I think I was a bit unclear.  If a man stays with one woman then his
children by her will be protected, fed, etc.  This happens whether he's
impregnated any other women or not.  Therefore the more women he impregnates,
the more possible children will survive.  It's even better if the women
are already with other men.  So now the first man's children are being
cared for by other men who believe that the children are their own.  So it
is advantageous for men to be polygamous as long as their own live-in partner
is not.  Again, let me stress that all this is in theory.  I personally
wouldn't want to live in such a society given the choice.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milt Tinkoff				|	"The average man is a
Silicon Graphics Inc.			|	     stupid man."
milt@waynes-world.esd.sgi.com		|		              -Ed Mao