by cofty 96 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Its not an argument for or against. If the female orgasm in humans is possible because of common developmental features with males, exactly the same may be true of many mammals.
Anyway the article I linked for you looks at both sides of the issue in some detail.
I'm sure plenty more grad students are going to get Phds doing further research on the topic.
This discussion seems to focus on why sex is an advantage. Totally absent is any plausible explanation of HOW it could have started, been maintained and spread.
Shadow - Unlike creationist answers - "god-did-it. The End" - explanations about reality are not so simple.
So far we have explained the disadvantages of asexual reproduction, the way sex solves those problems, and the specific pressures faced by early eukaryotic cells that created perfect conditions for the rise of sexual reproduction.
There is more to come. Let's see if your attention span can last.
Frazzled UBM - "...rather than identifying those elements of Christianity that have pagan roots it would be easier to identify those that don't as they would be far fewer."
I dunno, something tells me you wouldn't have much left to work with.
Frazzled UBM - "I think you are on to something - certainly the Bible and Christianity in general are full of plagiarism or at least taking soemthing from another religious tradition and adapting it..."
cofty - "Chapter 15 of Susan Blackmore's book 'The Meme Machine', is titled 'Religions as memeplexes'."
While I get what both of you are saying (and, in fact, agree with you), I was actually talking about literal reproductive advantages; as in the propagation of genes i.e. sex (which was why I suggested that the idea seemed initally counterintuitive).
Before anybody says "Whaaaaa???", stop and think a minute.
Humans are essentially tribal creatures i.e. pack- or pride-oriented animals, and we are all - subconsciously or otherwise- concerned with our status or position in the group.
Why?
Time and again, biologists have observed that in pack/pride group dynamics, it's the alpha leader's' genes that dominate and - more importantly - are passed down to subsequent generations, because the alphas are the ones that mate the most (either because there's only one alpha of a certain gender present, or because he/she physically prevents competitors of the same gender from mating).
The vast majority of human organizations are heirarchal, just like a wolf pack or a lion pride, and for all their talk about sexual restraint, (male)leaders in religious organizations - more often than not - have far more sexual opportunities than the rank-and-file, simply because individuals in leadership roles naturally attract more sexual partners.
We're (arguably) wired that way psychologically.
Genes don't care whether a certain action is viewed as moral or otherwise, their goal is simply to propagate, and it's pretty clear at this point that they have a significant impact on our behavior, whether we're aware of it or not.
Is it so much of a stretch to suggest that religion evolved as yet another way for competing genomes to gain a reproductive advantage over their competitors?
Bumparoonie.
It makes me think of the polygamous sects of the Mormons. The FLDS is known for promoting polygamy, the more wives you have, the higher position you attain in heaven. Young men are run off from the group, so the older men have no competition. The leader, Warren Jeff's, is in prison now for promoting sex with underage girls. The girls have no desire to get married to old geezers who have many other wives, but are so brainwashed they have little choice. The wedding pictures of these men with their child brides are horrific.
It seems like evolurtion run amuck. The men use the pretext of religion to pass their DNA onto as many childrem as possible.
Lisa, be glad you are not one of them,
through inbreeding Mormons will turn into Morons,
Is that why they Mainstream stopped FIXED polygamy?
