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I'm curious; can we assume they were similar enough to be attractive or desirable as mates? It's obvious different cultural standards may have applied. Or am

I'm curious; can we assume they were similar enough to be attractive or desirable as mates? It's obvious different cultural standards may have applied. Or am I asking a stupid question?

JulianMorrison 7y ago
They've done reconstructions of neanderthals based on forensic understanding of muscles over bone, etc. They look like people. If you're attracted to Homo Sapiens you're probably attracted to Homo Neanderthalensis.
danieltillett 7y ago
Or maybe the production of alcohol was discovered earlier than we thought.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
PeterisP 7y ago
Since we have documented cases of e.g. orangutans being used in prostitution, debating whether different hominids would attempt sex with each other isn't necessary. Yes, they would, it it's somehow physically possible.
brohee 7y ago
Datapoint : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal#/media/File:Reconstruction_of_Neanderthal_woman.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal#/media/File:Recons... Uglier Homo Sapiens found mates
booleandilemma 7y ago
Humans nowadays are attracted to everything from anime characters to people dressed in furry animal costumes. The set of things we’re attracted to knows no bounds.
- keiru 7y ago
  Perhaps the real evolutionary advantage of Sapiens was abstract thinking put to use in advanced sexualization of different species.
JoeAltmaier 7y ago
A recent discovery is of an individual 1/8 Neanderthal. That means some Homo Sapien mated with their parent (1/4 Neanderthal), their grandparent (1/2 Neanderthal) and their great-grandparent (100% Neanderthal). So yes, they didn't seem to be stigmatized.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  >So yes, they didn't seem to be stigmatized. Or the grandparent (1/2) and parent (1/4) just happened to be female (which is likely, see also: Haldane's rule) in which case they probably had little problem getting laid (side effects include pregnancy which if not treated can lead to children) no matter how stigmatized they were assuming modern humans behavior is any indication. Having a kid is no guarantee they (and presumably their kid) weren't the lowest status person in the tribe (i.e. stigmatized) on account of who their parents were. That said, it's entirely possible the people in question were too concerned with month to month and year to year survival to care about that kind of thing.

I'm curious; can we assume they were similar enough to be attractive or desirable as mates? It's obvious different cultural standards may have applied. Or am I asking a stupid question?

JulianMorrison 7y ago

They've done reconstructions of neanderthals based on forensic understanding of muscles over bone, etc. They look like people. If you're attracted to Homo Sapiens you're probably attracted to Homo Neanderthalensis.

danieltillett 7y ago

Or maybe the production of alcohol was discovered earlier than we thought.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

PeterisP 7y ago

Since we have documented cases of e.g. orangutans being used in prostitution, debating whether different hominids would attempt sex with each other isn't necessary. Yes, they would, it it's somehow physically possible.

brohee 7y ago

Datapoint : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal#/media/File:Reconstruction_of_Neanderthal_woman.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal#/media/File:Recons... Uglier Homo Sapiens found mates

booleandilemma 7y ago

Humans nowadays are attracted to everything from anime characters to people dressed in furry animal costumes. The set of things we’re attracted to knows no bounds.

keiru 7y ago
Perhaps the real evolutionary advantage of Sapiens was abstract thinking put to use in advanced sexualization of different species.

JoeAltmaier 7y ago

A recent discovery is of an individual 1/8 Neanderthal. That means some Homo Sapien mated with their parent (1/4 Neanderthal), their grandparent (1/2 Neanderthal) and their great-grandparent (100% Neanderthal). So yes, they didn't seem to be stigmatized.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
>So yes, they didn't seem to be stigmatized. Or the grandparent (1/2) and parent (1/4) just happened to be female (which is likely, see also: Haldane's rule) in which case they probably had little problem getting laid (side effects include pregnancy which if not treated can lead to children) no matter how stigmatized they were assuming modern humans behavior is any indication. Having a kid is no guarantee they (and presumably their kid) weren't the lowest status person in the tribe (i.e. stigmatized) on account of who their parents were. That said, it's entirely possible the people in question were too concerned with month to month and year to year survival to care about that kind of thing.