What are the benefits of polygamy?

[Mr Rayon]

What are the benefits of polygamy?

What does everybody think?

 

Also, do the benefits in polygamy outweigh the benefits in monogamy?

 

 

Which one is better (from an atheist's perspective)?

[zapatos]

What are the benefits of polygamy?

What does everybody think?

 

Also, do the benefits in polygamy outweigh the benefits in monogamy?

 

 

Which one is better (from an atheist's perspective)?

Can I ask why you are looking only for an atheist's perspective?

[doG]

Which one is better (from an atheist's perspective)?

I don't know how pertinent this is but I'll mention it. I'm an atheist but I love the feeling I get on Christmas when family and friends open the gifts I have given them. It warms my heart. I particularly like helping single moms with their needs to the extent that I can because it gives me that same feeling throughout the year. I have one that lives with me, and her son, and providing for them and giving her the opportunity to be a full time mom really warms me through and through. It makes me wish I could take in a dozen and provide for all of them. To that extent more is better for me. OTOH, one is plenty to satisfy my libido.

[Mr Rayon]

Can I ask why you are looking only for an atheist's perspective?

 

Oh because most people here seem to equate the atheistic viewpoint as being the one that's most logical and rational.

Also, I wanted the topic of religion to stay out of the thread as you don't have to religious to be in a polygamous/monogamous relationship.

[randomc]

Given female sexual selection preferences tend toward machiavellian intelligence, and given the strong link between machiavellian intelligence and no-conscience disorders such as pychopathy/sociopathy, polygyny could perhaps be expected to result in a higher representation of such disorders compared with monogamy.

 

Since it might also be expected that a stongly polygynous culture would accelerate the natural feedbackloop associated with female selection preferences and machiavellian intelligence, it's possible to hypothesise that socially enforced monogamy is the principle variable responsible for the more successful civilisations in history.

 

I should say that the above is not at all a resolved issue, it's just stitched together from stuff i found online.

 

You might find this paper more pertinent to the question;

 

monogamy history of

 

 

It's also interesting to speculate about the increase in narcissism, autism and adhd, and associated disorders since the sexual revolution. A couple of generations doesn't seem enough to me, but i dunno, maybe epigenetic changes can become fixed in a population in such a short time? Evidence certainly exists linking autism with line-1 retrostransposon insertions. Possibly other disorders could be too

 

Anyway, i better give sources since i'm making some fairly outrageous claims and associations:

 

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3153759/

 

 

machiavellian intelligence and sexual selection

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=jumping-genes-brain-tied-autisim

Edited March 14, 2012 by randomc

[Joatmon]

What are the benefits of polygamy?

What does everybody think?

 

Also, do the benefits in polygamy outweigh the benefits in monogamy?

 

 

Which one is better (from an atheist's perspective)?

 

 

Perhaps you should also ask the same questions concerning polyandry (sexual equality and all that!)