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It's not about values, it's about reproduction. Good looks on a gal are correlated with fertility, so a guy who marries her will have a chance at a higher repr
by araneae 16y ago
It's not about values, it's about reproduction.
Good looks on a gal are correlated with fertility, so a guy who marries her will have a chance at a higher reproductive success. A guy with resources can afford to take care of said children, as opposed to letting them starve to death, so she gets a higher RS as well.
Neither has anything to do with morality at all.
- natrius 16y agoJustifying behaviors with evolutionary arguments doesn't make any sense. Stealing and raping generally increase your chances of reproducing, yet they're still immoral. I don't think seeking wealthy mates is immoral because it doesn't hurt anyone. If someone enjoys that kind of thing, good for them. If they're in it for the conspicuous consumption, I just probably wouldn't enjoy hanging out with them, let alone marrying them.
- nitrogen 16y agoI didn't read the parent post as justifying so much as explaining. Evolutionary or physiological explanations for behavior are useful in understanding the behavior. Some evolutionarily advantageous behaviors are morally positive, while some are morally negative (such as the examples you listed). With a proper understanding of the origins of desirable and undesirable behaviors (and, perhaps the reasons why they are considered desirable or undesirable), a society can better encourage and enforce the essential moral values that unite the society and allow it to function.
- cabalamat 16y ago> It's not about values, it's about reproduction. It's about values and reproduction. Humans are living things, and EVERYTHING about the behaviour of living things is about reproduction. Values, in humans, are all about reproduction, directly or indirectly.