Re: how many bastards are there, anyway?

sgf (sfolse@odin.cair.du.edu)
27 Aug 1996 20:14:05 GMT

In article <4vlqoe$ifn@jaxnet.southeast.net>,
Matt Beckwith <beckwith@jaxnet.com> wrote:
>mycol1@unm.edu (Bryant) wrote:
>
>>Cuckoldry seems to have been a rather regular part of the human
>>experience, though. Getting a fella with resources to raise the >offspring
>>you conceived with a fella with better genes might be a typical female
>>reproductive strategy. It's interesting that among college students, the
>>guys who inspire orgasm in women the most invest the least in their
>>relationships--consistent with female orgasm's "good genes" securing >role.
>
>What's so good about the genes of a man who has nothing to invest in a
>relationship?

Increased resistance to disease, for one possibility. It would seem to
be slightly in the female's favor to get a variety of different genes for
her kids so that *her* genes would have the maximum possible chance to be
passed on successfully. Somehow I don't think that *all* genetic
benefits are correlated with resource-gathering and -holding abilities,
although some might be (i.e., the cleverness to get and keep said
resources).

--Stephanie

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