Subject:
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Re: Animal reproduction (was (of course?) Terms and Conditions Question)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 12 May 1999 07:16:13 GMT
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Viewed:
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976 times
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Christopher L. Weeks <c576653@cclabs.missouri.edu> wrote in message
news:37384BDE.5D95685C@cclabs.missouri.edu...
> Ed Jones wrote:
> >
> > I disagree - the majority of mammals have sex only to procreate. The • females
> > of most species will only allow sex when they are "furtile". The males • of most
> > species still have the ability to determine when the female is in • "heat".
> >
> > Only the higher-order mammals have sex for pleasure.
>
> The way I read this, it sounds like you think the critters know that
> reproduction is the outcome of their sex act. I don't think that's so.
> I agree that it's instinctually and hormonally driven, but I think the
> female allows and the male engages in intercourse because it feels good.
I think that Ed is writing in a style that is used when discussing
evolutionary life strategy. An organism's actions (evolved over
evolutionary time) are sometimes spoken of as though the organism had some
role in deciding what path it took, or what it now instinctually does --
this is of course not the case
If I say "the butter clam thickened it's shell in response to predation
pressures" I am not saying that the butter clam realized what it was doing
and the consequences of a thicker shell. In the same respect, "mammals have
sex only to procreate" does not imply that they are using cognition in their
family planning. Over evolutionary time, those animals that used sex only
for reproduction were more successful. I agree that there is a motivation
for reproduction (perhaps pleasure; although I have doubts on the stability
and viability of this mechanism for a majority organisms).
I agree with your term "because it feels good", but this can mean many
things. It can mean tangible physical pleasure (orgasm) or it can also mean
a feeling of satiation or perhaps safety. I would find it easier to fall
asleep if I felt I was in relative safety from being hurt. I would "feel
good" (don't ask me for an explanation of that mechanism :), but would not
receive any tangible physical pleasure.
A disadvantage of using pleasure as a driving force for reproduction, is
that in nature, inopportune pregnancy depletes an organism's resources, is
inefficient, usually unsuccessful and possibly fatal.
As well, pleasure as a motivational mechanism, has costly biological
overhead. I feel that in general, an evolutionary effort is made to limit
sex (reproduction) rather that encourage it.
LINC
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