Part 6. Humans are (Blank) -ogamous: Many Intimate Relationships

This is the sixth part on the evolution of human mating behavior, comparing evidence for promiscuity and pair-bonding in our species. Please see the Introduction here. _______________________________________________________________ … “So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act.” – Dr. Seuss … … David McCandless at [...]

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Roundup (Jan 10, 2012)

I generally don’t do roundups, but below are a few things I thought worth sharing. If “a scholar is just a library’s way of making another library,” as Daniel Dennett put it, then this is what I’ve checked out lately. … #1. Greg Downey at Neuroanthropology has begun a new series on anthropology and the [...]

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Part 5. Humans are (Blank) -ogamous: Pair-Bonding and Romantic Love

This is the fifth part on the evolution of human mating behavior, comparing evidence for promiscuity and pair-bonding in our species. Please see the introduction here. ____________________________________________________________________ … … “One of these days I will wake up – which I think I have done already – and realize to myself that I really do love. I [...]

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Humans are (Blank) -ogamous: A Musical Interlude

This post is probably not as serious as the others in this series. Maybe it’s half-serious. I’m still organizing my thoughts and reading up on pair-bonding and the biology of love from various disciplines. One seemingly mundane, but related, thing that often crosses my mind whenever I listen to music on the radio is the [...]

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Part 4. Humans are (Blank) -ogamous: Promiscuity & Physiology

This is the fourth part on the evolution of human mating behavior, comparing evidence for promiscuity and pair-bonding in our species. Please see the introduction here. ____________________________________________________________________ …   We left off with a list of eight traits in humans suggesting promiscuity in humans. Admittedly, the previous post was a little thick, as it dealt [...]

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Part 3. Humans are (Blank) -ogamous: More on Promiscuity, & Genetics

This is the third part on the evolution of human mating behavior, comparing evidence for promiscuity and pair-bonding in our species. Please see the introduction here. ____________________________________________________________________ … Part 2 pertained to human behaviors that suggested a human propensity for promiscuity (primate sexuality, the excessive sexual capacity of humans, infidelity rates, cultural variation in marriage [...]

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Part 2. Humans are (Blank) -ogamous: Promiscuity

This is the second part on the evolution of human mating behavior, comparing evidence for promiscuity and pair-bonding in our species. Please see the Introduction here. _______________________________________________________________ … “I’ll be frank. True monogamy is rare. So rare that it is one of the most deviant behaviors in biology.” (Olivia Judson 2002: 153) . In their [...]

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Part 1. Humans are (Blank) -ogamous

“(A)s our forebears adopted life on the dangerous ground, pair-bonding became imperative for females and practical for males. And monogamy – the human habit of forming a pair-bond with one individual at a time – evolved.” (Helen Fisher 2004: 131) … “Several types of evidence suggest our pre-agricultural (prehistoric) ancestors lived in groups where most [...]

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On Fatherhood: Proud Primate Papas

… For Father’s Day, Scientific American compiled a series on the biology of fatherhood, including a list of 8 species where males are integral in raising offspring. Included were birds (rheas, emperor penguins), mammals (marmosets, red foxes, wolverines), fish (catfish, sea horses), and even insects (giant water bugs). For some of these species, male parental [...]

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