From: athe nonrex (athenonrex@godisdead.com)
Date: Fri Sep 26 2003 - 15:15:00 MDT
oh...a game of devil's advocate....?
more than just an excercise in empathy, it's is almost a way of
life for me...lemmie give it a go...
<snip>
Topic #1: The case for and against monogamy.
If you have a strong opinion for or against monogamy, this isnt your playground. If you have strong opinions for monogamy AND against monogamy or if you cant decide, please feel free to add to this thread. Noone will be addressing anyone else. To tackle an individual's pov, a new thread can be started.
<snip>
the case PRO monogamy
monogamy is a long standing tradition, perhaps mostly religious in
nature. even so, even most modern atheists, agnostics and other
generally non religious persons still adhear to and respect the notion
of a single parter, with unwavering commitment (at least, they make it
seem that way and make those vows.) but contrary to the notion that
monogamy is originated in religion, would could easily argue that there
are several examples of "monogamous" animals in nature that mate for
life with a single animal. we've all heard about penguins and turtle
doves. scientific research suggests (not proves) that monogamy is quite
prevailant in the animal kingdom.
aside from this biology, there is the simple question of emotion and
intimacy. i personally am intimate with one person. there have been
things shared between me and that person that i've not shared with
anyone else. and because of that special relation i share with her,
and with no one else, there is a kind of superior emotional
gratification in it. of course, one could tie this aspect back into
the evolutionary aspect of "love" being merely the vehicle for
procreation.
but even so, strictly on a procreative front, finding
that one partner to mate with and mating with only one partner can
be thought of as beneficial to genetics. certain people are instictively
drawn to other people. and those with desireable genes- as well as those
with undesireable genes- tend to gravitate towards one another, thus
singling them out and keeping/rejecting them as would seem fit.
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the arguement against monogamy
monogamy dumbs down the gene pool. this isn't perhaps always the case,
as just as the people with "inferior" genes tend towards those with
"inferior" genes, perhaps those with "desireable genes" do infact seek
out and find eachother. but, for whatever reason, the stupid people,
those with "bad" genes, seem more inclined to breed, and at a faster
rate, than those with "good" genes seem to be.
in a society that would tolerate polygamous unions, the intelligent
people that are actually inclined to procreate would have more ability
to "spread the good seed" and raise good stock and crops, so to speak.
whereas yes, this would open the doors to the "bad genes" practicing
polygamy, one should find it hard to imagine them breeding faster than
they already do.
further on the genetic side, the more mates a person has, the greater
the genetic diversity is. and we all know the first rule of genetics is
to spread the genes out. and though one could note that there are
animals in nature that do practice instinctive monogamy (penguins, other
and in fact most birds), there can be seen an equal amount, if not a
higher amount, of a single animal breeding with many other animals.
lions, for example: the male lion mates with, on average, 17 different
females in a day.
it's true that in animals practicing polygamy that the polygamous part
is almost exclusively male. and i can already see the feminist attacts
of "this is some male domination thing again, isn't it?" and i can
assure you that ...yes, it is (that's a joke, lighten up...)just because
it is practiced that way in the animal kingdom does not mean that it has
to be practiced that way by all humans. if polygamy were legalized, it
would have to extend to the females as much as it does the males. and
just because it would be legal and openly accepted, it wouldn't be
required of anyone.
by why allow one and not the other?
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