8 ms·
> One theory that's been postulated is that women have affairs to increase the genetic diversity of the sperm that compete for her egg, thereby increasing the c
by mcherm 14y ago
> One theory that's been postulated is that women have affairs to increase the genetic diversity of the sperm that compete for her egg, thereby increasing the chances that her children will have good genes.
That would be better expressed like this:
> One theory that's been postulated is that women have affairs.
The speculation about the reason for the affairs is just silly. Seriously. This made-up pseudo-evolutionary explanations for things that are so popular really do not add anything. Try it: ask 10 different women who have had affairs what their reason was -- they are real, live human beings, so you can ask instead of just speculating. I'm guessing that 0% of those women will say "to increase the genetic diversity of the sperm that competes for my egg".
- iansimon 14y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximate_and_ultimate_causation#In_biology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximate_and_ultimate_causatio...
- eric-hu 14y agoMy smirk apparently agrees with you. That pseudo-evolutionary statement reminds me of the mouse-over for this xkcd http://xkcd.com/685/ http://xkcd.com/685/
- mvleming 14y agoIf I asked you "Why do you take your hand off a hot stove?" you might say because it hurts. But the fact that it hurts for us when we put our hand on the stove is our genes trying to keep themselves alive, because otherwise they risk being killed. In the same way, a person might say they had an affair for whatever reason, but really its their genes who want to be able to pass on themselves. (Edited for clarity.)
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- justincormack 14y agoNot really. That's a theory and it is one that is hard to disprove experimentally. It is a much stronger theory than evolution, saying that every action is correctly designed to optimise gene transmission. Essentially it is trying to say that we are at a global maximum in a space that is probably more nonlinear. In fact our genes may well be suboptimal in some respects even if you think they have "control". The contortions people go through to try to justify homosexuality as a genetic thing are one example of many. In fact diversity is an advantage in a varying environment so many traits must be suboptimal.
- mvleming 14y agoI completely agree with you. I don't believe that every action is correctly designed to optimize gene transmissions and I think you put it into very eloquent words with: "it is trying to say that we are at a global maximum in a space that is probably more nonlinear." However, I think that there are certain actions that we take that are clearly defined by our genetics, like the fact that we eat, or that we have sex. And having affairs is one of those.
- justincormack 14y agoI agree absolutely it is more likely. And I read The Selfish Gene. But how could you disprove that theory? it is sort of too obviously true, if you see what I mean. Which is why I brought up the homosexuality counterexample. So I don't think it should be taken as undeniable, even though it is plausible.
- mvleming 14y agoI see what you're trying to get at. You're saying that "x% of children are not genetically related to their fathers because women have affairs to increase the competition for her egg" is a theory, not to be taken as something true. I didn't mean to make myself sound like that I was saying it was. I was just suggesting something and I agree with you: it is plausible, but it is still a theory at the end of the day. We're on the same page. :)
- Strshps1MoreTim 14y agoUfff, Eternal September on HN. 10 woman vs Darwin /s