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Maybe contraceptives are a dead-end against which evolution can't do much. Maternal instinct exists : it pushes a woman to keep her offspring alive at all cost

Maybe contraceptives are a dead-end against which evolution can't do much. Maternal instinct exists : it pushes a woman to keep her offspring alive at all cost. I suppose it also makes women yearn for having a baby to take care of. But apparently, having just one is enough for them. Maybe two, but they seem to be content with no more than that. What makes a woman pregnant in the first place is the sexual impulse of the male. That sexual impulse is the primary way nature gets animal organisms to reproduce. With contraceptives, males can satisfy that sexual impulse without creating new offspring. How will nature induce highly-intelligent animals to make an offspring if the sexual intercourse is no more sufficient? It's hard to imagine how genes could intervene high enough on cognitive functions to induce a thought such as "I must have intercourse with this women without contraception because I want children". It could be an evolutionary dead-end.

DougWebb 9y ago
Paternal instinct, and women who like sex, exist too.
- grondilu 9y ago
  Well, no rule is written in stone. What you talk about could be a consequence of the fact that men and women are more or less built the same way after all. Kind of like why men have nipples, even if they are useless to them. My point remains anyway : even if there was a perfect symmetry in gender roles, parenting instinct would be what makes parents desire to have at least one offspring and keep it alive at all cost, but what would drive them to have more than two would be sexual impulse.
  - sgt101 9y ago
    There exists a desire to have children in a household amongst some people both male and female just because it can be fulfilling and nice.
    - walterstucco 9y ago
      But it's not genetic It's culture and education
      - blacksmith_tb 9y ago
        Citation needed - obviously culture and education have an enormous impact on how humans live, but given that other animals are driven to reproduce, it shouldn't be a surprise that we are also.
        walterstucco 9y ago
        When child survival increases, kids per family decrease at an enormous rate down to one kid per family https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_...
      - toasterlovin 9y ago
        Complex behavior can be and often is genetic. A great example of this is the vastly different behavior of the zebra and lion when in close company with zebras. The zebra will engage in herd behavior, whereas the lion will try to eat one of the zebras. No amount of socialization can alter these behavioral patterns. I can tell you that my wife and I both knew long before we were anywhere near adults that we wanted families. You know how some people know that they want to be a fire fighter or a police officer when they grow up? I knew I wanted to have a bunch of kids. The story is more or less the same for her. And my wife and I both grew up on the left, where the attitude toward having children varies from something you do after you have your career sorted to outright anti-natalism.
        walterstucco 9y ago
        > . A great example of this is the vastly different behavior of the zebra and lion We're not zebra and lions > knew long before we were anywhere near adults that we wanted families peer pressure is strong in our society family is a motivation to stay alive for many > I knew I wanted to have a bunch of kids. Yeah I though I knew as well, much like I thought I was going to be an astronaut Now I'm a grown up man, in charge of his life, and I know I don't care about a family And it's not the gene's telling me, I still think about having a legacy, a mini me persisting my DNA but I know that it's just a legacy from the past where a man without a family to support wasn't a real man. That's it, education and culture If reproducing was such a strong genetic trait, men on heart would have been billions centuries ago The truth is kids are family support, the more societies get rich, the less people make children It's scientifically proven, poor need kids not for reproduction but for elderly support Poor also make a lot of children because in poor societies kids die more easily

DougWebb 9y ago

Paternal instinct, and women who like sex, exist too.

grondilu 9y ago
Well, no rule is written in stone. What you talk about could be a consequence of the fact that men and women are more or less built the same way after all. Kind of like why men have nipples, even if they are useless to them. My point remains anyway : even if there was a perfect symmetry in gender roles, parenting instinct would be what makes parents desire to have at least one offspring and keep it alive at all cost, but what would drive them to have more than two would be sexual impulse.
- sgt101 9y ago
  There exists a desire to have children in a household amongst some people both male and female just because it can be fulfilling and nice.
  - walterstucco 9y ago
    But it's not genetic It's culture and education
    - blacksmith_tb 9y ago
      Citation needed - obviously culture and education have an enormous impact on how humans live, but given that other animals are driven to reproduce, it shouldn't be a surprise that we are also.
      - walterstucco 9y ago
        When child survival increases, kids per family decrease at an enormous rate down to one kid per family https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_...
    - toasterlovin 9y ago
      Complex behavior can be and often is genetic. A great example of this is the vastly different behavior of the zebra and lion when in close company with zebras. The zebra will engage in herd behavior, whereas the lion will try to eat one of the zebras. No amount of socialization can alter these behavioral patterns. I can tell you that my wife and I both knew long before we were anywhere near adults that we wanted families. You know how some people know that they want to be a fire fighter or a police officer when they grow up? I knew I wanted to have a bunch of kids. The story is more or less the same for her. And my wife and I both grew up on the left, where the attitude toward having children varies from something you do after you have your career sorted to outright anti-natalism.
      - walterstucco 9y ago
        > . A great example of this is the vastly different behavior of the zebra and lion We're not zebra and lions > knew long before we were anywhere near adults that we wanted families peer pressure is strong in our society family is a motivation to stay alive for many > I knew I wanted to have a bunch of kids. Yeah I though I knew as well, much like I thought I was going to be an astronaut Now I'm a grown up man, in charge of his life, and I know I don't care about a family And it's not the gene's telling me, I still think about having a legacy, a mini me persisting my DNA but I know that it's just a legacy from the past where a man without a family to support wasn't a real man. That's it, education and culture If reproducing was such a strong genetic trait, men on heart would have been billions centuries ago The truth is kids are family support, the more societies get rich, the less people make children It's scientifically proven, poor need kids not for reproduction but for elderly support Poor also make a lot of children because in poor societies kids die more easily