What would a man/female focused solely on their biological fitness do in the modern world?
In animals, males would procreate with as many females, as they could, with the best scenario where they have different males raise their offsprings. Today, we have morning-after pills, and abortions, it is no longer enough for Pan to pinky-swear he would stay around. How does he alter his strategy? One I can quickly think of is sperm donation, but would that be his optimal strategy? I am certain that the hypothetical sultan from the old days could possibly produce more children, but how do their relative fitnesses compare, taking into account that in the western world, most places’ population growths decreased in intensity, or plateaued, or are even falling.
For females, egg donation seems like it should beat older methods hands down.
Would these really be the optimal strategies?
In most cases, successful reproduction requires that both sides desire to do so.
I am not sure that the level of attractiveness exists at which one could simply put on offer their genes, without a bank as an intermediate. On the other hand, I have heard tales of same-sex couples organizing such endeavors.
Cecil Jacobson lied and did not conform to standard practices, but the standard practice at the time was for the physician to conscript an arbitrary medical student. Aside from the times that he substituted his sperm for the husband’s, he just grabbed control of a variable that no one else cared enough to steer. The difference today is not so much that people worry about fraud, but that the patient exhibits control (and is allowed control by the establishment). Caring about fraud is a consequence of caring at all.
If Jacobson and a colleague had swapped sperm, it would have come to the same thing, while providing the claimed distance between the donor and the recipient. And it would have been close to the standard procedure, except that the donors would have been older and thus less fertile.
Maybe a possible strategy for a man could be to become a popular actor or singer, then become a famous advocate for gay/lesbian rights, and then publicly offer his sperm to lesbian pairs.
(The idea is that lesbian pairs need a sperm donor anyway, and why not choose someone who is both popular and sympathetic to their cause?)
The most successful women are probably the primoridal Eves. To emulate them, as a woman, you’ll have to build a time machine, travel to their time and their pocket of (kinda) humanity and screw your brains out.
For a male, it looks likely that Genghis Khan was very very successful at leaving a lot of offspring. So as a male your best best is to gather a Horde and invade China and Russia.
What would a man/female focused solely on their biological fitness do in the modern world? In animals, males would procreate with as many females, as they could, with the best scenario where they have different males raise their offsprings. Today, we have morning-after pills, and abortions, it is no longer enough for Pan to pinky-swear he would stay around. How does he alter his strategy? One I can quickly think of is sperm donation, but would that be his optimal strategy? I am certain that the hypothetical sultan from the old days could possibly produce more children, but how do their relative fitnesses compare, taking into account that in the western world, most places’ population growths decreased in intensity, or plateaued, or are even falling.
For females, egg donation seems like it should beat older methods hands down.
Would these really be the optimal strategies? In most cases, successful reproduction requires that both sides desire to do so. I am not sure that the level of attractiveness exists at which one could simply put on offer their genes, without a bank as an intermediate. On the other hand, I have heard tales of same-sex couples organizing such endeavors.
Consider Cecil Jacobson, though that trick probably only works once.
Cecil Jacobson lied and did not conform to standard practices, but the standard practice at the time was for the physician to conscript an arbitrary medical student. Aside from the times that he substituted his sperm for the husband’s, he just grabbed control of a variable that no one else cared enough to steer. The difference today is not so much that people worry about fraud, but that the patient exhibits control (and is allowed control by the establishment). Caring about fraud is a consequence of caring at all.
If Jacobson and a colleague had swapped sperm, it would have come to the same thing, while providing the claimed distance between the donor and the recipient. And it would have been close to the standard procedure, except that the donors would have been older and thus less fertile.
Maybe a possible strategy for a man could be to become a popular actor or singer, then become a famous advocate for gay/lesbian rights, and then publicly offer his sperm to lesbian pairs.
(The idea is that lesbian pairs need a sperm donor anyway, and why not choose someone who is both popular and sympathetic to their cause?)
Apparently being a postman in the 60s and having a good Johnny Cash impression worked out well …
http://infamoustribune.com/dna-tests-prove-retired-postman-1300-illegimitate-children/
Or, alternatively, not.
Let’s look at empirical evidence X-)
The most successful women are probably the primoridal Eves. To emulate them, as a woman, you’ll have to build a time machine, travel to their time and their pocket of (kinda) humanity and screw your brains out.
For a male, it looks likely that Genghis Khan was very very successful at leaving a lot of offspring. So as a male your best best is to gather a Horde and invade China and Russia.
You might want to read again the last four words in the first sentence of the comment you’re replying to. :-)