Comment on Humans rank between meerkats and beavers in monogamy ‘league table’, but sheep are sluts.

gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

• Iunnrais@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  This is actually a more interesting statement than one might think at first.

  When we describe the habits of various species of animals, it’s my understanding that once a description is obtained, you can look at more or less any particular member of that species and see pretty much the same behavior. Monogamy trends included.

  Not so with humans. You can find an average, describe trends, but pick any specific individual human and they’re almost certainly not going to behave as that description.

  Some humans pair bond for life and beyond, never seeking other companionship after one partner dies. Others sleep around constantly with dozens of partners in a lifetime. And everything in between.

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  • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I don’t think this is true. There is certainly a large degree of individual variation in animal behavior too, it’s just not that well studied.

    I had a professor who studied owls, which are usually highly monogamous. But there was one male who always tried to have two nests with two different females. It was hard for him because he had to hunt twice as much food, but for whatever reason that was what he felt like doing.

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    • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Bro just liked to hunt & needed something to do with all that extra food.

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  • Deceptichum@quokk.au ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Also we have cultural layers on top.

    You don’t see a sheep saving itself for marriage lest it fear eternal torture.

    Likewise you don’t see a sheep putting its keys into a bowl at a party.

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  • The_v@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Nope, that’s not what it means at all

    Genetically linked behaviors follow distribution curves. There is always variation in every population for any behavior. When a behavior is highly selected for, alternative behaviors become more rare…but they still happen.

    A good example of this is homosexuality, evolutionarily speaking this behavior is highly selected against (reduced babies). It still occurs in all sorts of species.

    What this means is that around 2/3rds of humans are strictly monogamous. Around 1/3rd of humans are promiscuous or partially promiscuous. These are instinctual behaviors that can be overcome somewhat by cultural norms. On an individual basis, for every 3 people you meet, one instinctually finds sleeping around to be their “normal” behavior.

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  • Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    So you're saying normal humans are incredibly rare. Yep.

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