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A contest is only an evolutionary advantage if the winners reproduce more, or more successfully, than the losers. So assuming you're not having babies with eve

A contest is only an evolutionary advantage if the winners reproduce more, or more successfully, than the losers. So assuming you're not having babies with everyone you match with on tinder, having a large number of matches isn't actually an increase in fitness. I haven't seen any evidence that people who don't do well on dating apps don't actually end up reproducing... in fact it's possible less success in that realm could be correlated with stronger relationships when you do find someone - since you don't feel you have a million other options waiting in the wings. Now having large number of matches means you have more to choose from, so perhaps you're likely to get a "better" partner - but this seems like it would be a fairly weak and therefore slow-acting selection bias.

gowld 6y ago
Evolutionary success isn't about stronger relationships, it's about having more sex with less birth control and a basically safe environment for childhood survival. A male in unstable relationships can have far more offspring than a man in stable relationship, as can (to a lesser exteny) a woman who is so unstable that her children are adopted.
- threatofrain 6y ago
  Including a doctor who uses his own sperm at a sperm bank, which happens from time to time. https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/europe/jan-karbaat-fertility-doctor-scli-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/europe/jan-karbaat-fertility-...
- kennywinker 6y ago
  I was meaning stronger relationships, as in ones that are more likely to get to "let's have kids". But I'll meet you at your point, is stability in a relationship a bad strategy? My answers would be: 1. it's debatable 2. there are multiple viable strategies 3. any theory about what increases fitness needs testing and ones like this are very hard to prove or disprove since the signals are noisy. > A male in unstable relationships can have far more offspring than a man in stable relationship Theoretically can have, sure. But that doesn't instantly translate to that being a higher fitness strategy. For example - does that strategy work in practice, or only in theory? And if it does, what is the success of those offspring? An individual's reproductive success is only as good as their offspring's reproductive success. It's quite possible kids from stable homes are more likely to have more kids than those from unstable homes for a million subtle reasons.

gowld 6y ago

Evolutionary success isn't about stronger relationships, it's about having more sex with less birth control and a basically safe environment for childhood survival. A male in unstable relationships can have far more offspring than a man in stable relationship, as can (to a lesser exteny) a woman who is so unstable that her children are adopted.

threatofrain 6y ago
Including a doctor who uses his own sperm at a sperm bank, which happens from time to time. https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/europe/jan-karbaat-fertility-doctor-scli-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/europe/jan-karbaat-fertility-...
kennywinker 6y ago
I was meaning stronger relationships, as in ones that are more likely to get to "let's have kids". But I'll meet you at your point, is stability in a relationship a bad strategy? My answers would be: 1. it's debatable 2. there are multiple viable strategies 3. any theory about what increases fitness needs testing and ones like this are very hard to prove or disprove since the signals are noisy. > A male in unstable relationships can have far more offspring than a man in stable relationship Theoretically can have, sure. But that doesn't instantly translate to that being a higher fitness strategy. For example - does that strategy work in practice, or only in theory? And if it does, what is the success of those offspring? An individual's reproductive success is only as good as their offspring's reproductive success. It's quite possible kids from stable homes are more likely to have more kids than those from unstable homes for a million subtle reasons.