5 ms·

What's the number now? I'm assuming that the falling popularity of monogamy means it's headed in the same direction again, albeit not in quite as extreme a way.

• biomcgary 3y ago
  The falling popularity of reproduction probably intersects with the falling popularity of monogamy, albeit in unclear ways. All these trends are linked to reliable contraception, which disconnects sex from reproduction; however, I suspect that contraception merely facilitates / accelerates the cultural trends rather than being their primary cause.
  • micromacrofoot 3y ago
    > probably intersects with the falling popularity of monogamy this sounds like a bias looking for data to suit it birth rates generally decline as countries become more developed, there are numerous suspected causes (not related to monogamy)... generally the rule of thumb is... as education and income go up, birth rates decline: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255510/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255510/
    • biomcgary 3y ago
      My use of intersect was not fully articulated, thus unclear. My focus is genetic, not sociological. That is, I'm not saying that the rate of monogamy and rate of reproduction are causing each other. Rather, the intersection that I have in mind is whether the two things would have synergistic impact on allele frequencies (i.e., demographic structure). In the extreme, if a population stops reproducing, sexual selection doesn't occur (genetically) even if all sort of interesting sociological phenomena occur.
  • sublinear 3y ago
    A name isn't quite what it used to be. Monogamy and large families no longer have the social power they once did. It's all been replaced by money and new forms of communication. People may call this unnatural, but I wonder if other animals have similar behaviors that limit reproduction.
    • biomcgary 3y ago
      Actually, it is well known that reproduction shifts in response to high population density. (e.g., https://www.nature.com/articles/20917 https://www.nature.com/articles/20917, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-019-04337-9 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-019-04337-9, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001128070536.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001128070536.h...). Experimental studies have shown that signals of high density (e.g., playing squirrel calls on loudspeakers) reduce reproduction even when density is not actually high. I would love to test the hypothesis that Instagram exposure of rural populations reduces reproduction independent of education and actual population density.
      • red-iron-pine 3y ago
        im not sure instagram is the signal; plenty of mommy influencers, and small but strong set of rural folks embracing the "quiverfull" movement. maybe if we were talking MLMs or something. test the hypothesis on student debt and housing costs.
• awb 3y ago
  Having multiple partners doesn’t mean men are having children with multiple women. At least in my community, many of the men having kids with multiple women get married, have a kid, then divorce, remarry and have another kid. And even that is extremely rare compared to the men and women that only have children with a single partner. My guess is that the number of babies born out of wedlock is much, much lower than ever before. Probably due to contraception, child support, abortion and DNA testing.
• mcphage 3y ago
  > I'm assuming that the falling popularity of monogamy means it's headed in the same direction again How would the falling popularity of monogamy cause this?
  • b800h 3y ago
    Divorced older men frequently make more attractive mates.
    • red-iron-pine 3y ago
      unless they're showing up with tons of coke, and i ain't talking soda, i find that debatable. ain't no 18 year olds trying to mate with 42 year old divorces.