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treestar

(82,383 posts)

70. Other animals may go on instinct but humans have brains

Mon Feb 17, 2014, 05:08 PM

Feb 2014

and that will always affect what they do. Why would beauty standards have ever changed then? Why wouldn't unattractive people have died out by now? Why do they keep marrying each other and reproducing?

Evolution takes millions of years and is a way larger thing than the sexual decisions of some humans in one particular year.

To add to that, different humans have different attractions. That's because they are affected by what happened to them in life. The media could be part of it, but hopefully people have more to their lives than that.

As to pin up girls, most men aren't going to actually get with them, so what's the point of "sexual attraction" to them? If you aren't sexually attracted to women you actually meet who are also attracted you, you will get none, which does not augur well of your genes continuation. Yet we keep hearing that men are attracted to everything that moves, which is completely inconsistent.

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Okay, I admit it. There is no evolutionary component to sexual attraction. [View all] Bonobo Feb 2014 OP

Psst!! Bonobo.... yuiyoshida Feb 2014 #1

very pretty. loli phabay Feb 2014 #2

Ironically that video is blocked in Japan. I can't watch it. Bonobo Feb 2014 #3

BOA KWON yuiyoshida Feb 2014 #6

I think the non American version of the video was better Paulie Feb 2014 #39

Omg,. yuiyoshida Feb 2014 #45

I'm not disagreeing. But why make the American version for the same song? Paulie Feb 2014 #47

okay...I will play. This is what an Asian Superstar sounds like. yuiyoshida Feb 2014 #50

Her voice has clearly been photoshopped. A HERETIC I AM Feb 2014 #79

Thanks! Paulie Feb 2014 #90

That other video was blocked for me, too Art_from_Ark Feb 2014 #86

Apeman Bonobo Feb 2014 #5

Heh, cool... yuiyoshida Feb 2014 #10

Love the kinks and love that song. lumberjack_jeff Feb 2014 #102

Whoa. I'm embarassed to say I know nothing about this artist ProudToBeBlueInRhody Feb 2014 #53

See post #50 yuiyoshida Feb 2014 #55

Well, the songs she does choose to sing in English are just fine ProudToBeBlueInRhody Feb 2014 #57

Agreed...and as I said.. yuiyoshida Feb 2014 #59

I'm completely unfamiliar with the backstory of this OP... mike_c Feb 2014 #4

i am scratching both my head and my armpit at the same time. loli phabay Feb 2014 #11

+1 n/t Silent3 Feb 2014 #25

For the win!! westerebus Feb 2014 #28

STOP IT LOLI PHABAY OR I WILL TAKE MY HEART BACK Skittles Feb 2014 #34

no the rules are that once i have your heart you will never get it back loli phabay Feb 2014 #36

awwwwwww Skittles Feb 2014 #73

lol Renew Deal Feb 2014 #52

DU came down with a case of Scopes Monkey Trial this afternoon. Hassin Bin Sober Feb 2014 #15

LOL-- I thought that was pretty much settled nearly a century ago.... mike_c Feb 2014 #17

Not on DU! This place is mostly awesome but sometimes you just neverforget Feb 2014 #112

That's accurate. Agschmid Feb 2014 #31

Creationists on DU? pokerfan Feb 2014 #42

Hilarious. Feral Child Feb 2014 #156

You certainly got comfortable lobbing personal insults sufrommich Feb 2014 #158

You'd have to wade through the threads about the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover... JHB Feb 2014 #43

ROFL malaise Feb 2014 #7

... chrisa Feb 2014 #8

Nice, but it usually goes more like this... temporary311 Feb 2014 #29

Or this... bluedigger Feb 2014 #35

Or this.... MADem Feb 2014 #130

Unfortunately, there are some dense, anti-science loons on the left too. TheMathieu Feb 2014 #9

Oh yeah? Then why is my husband always asking if I want to monkey around? n/t Nuclear Unicorn Feb 2014 #12

lol, the funky monkey as they say. loli phabay Feb 2014 #13

Jeebus made us all the exact same and the devil made us like sex The Straight Story Feb 2014 #14

What does this have to do with prepubescent butts? JVS Feb 2014 #16

"Women may prefer masculine men during ovulation" TheMathieu Feb 2014 #18

1999 called. This was a Time story with the guy from Ally McBeal as the photo Recursion Feb 2014 #27

Maybe a better statement of sarcasm would be to say RainDog Feb 2014 #19

The times humans are LEAST "self-reflective"... Bonobo Feb 2014 #20

Nevertheless RainDog Feb 2014 #21

"Scavenging beasts" That pretty much describes the 0.01% Fumesucker Feb 2014 #40

The stork eliminated any need for sexual attraction. pintobean Feb 2014 #22

Oh I friggin' loved that one! Thanks! nt Bonobo Feb 2014 #23

The Protestant view pokerfan Feb 2014 #44

Is it possible to say that humans find certain attributes of other humans "attractive"? Renew Deal Feb 2014 #24

What's demeaning about being connected to other primates? Silent3 Feb 2014 #30

Welcome back to DU joeglow3 Feb 2014 #113

To be accused is to be guilty, so you might as well accept it. Silent3 Feb 2014 #114

blame it on the women reddread Feb 2014 #66

you we are still apes, right? and there isn't anything demeaning arely staircase Feb 2014 #67

It is demeaning to women to compare them to animals in the wild that can't think beyond alpha male Renew Deal Feb 2014 #72

humans are apes nt arely staircase Feb 2014 #75

Post removed Post removed Feb 2014 #77

everything I do is like an ape arely staircase Feb 2014 #78

+1. Laelth Feb 2014 #89

Right, just chemistry. elleng Feb 2014 #26

You need to go to the local High School and watch the mating dance. proudretiredvet Feb 2014 #32

Yeah, some people also think that PIV intercourse is "unnatural" and a "cultural creation" Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #33

Warren's got better things to do... RainDog Feb 2014 #48

I'm never too busy for your musical selections. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #51

Are you watching True Detective? RainDog Feb 2014 #54

Nice, and yeah, totally. Been engrossed in it. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #56

Yeah. The Prez has good taste. RainDog Feb 2014 #58

Yep. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #61

I feel like I'm horror-genre deprived RainDog Feb 2014 #63

I never read any of that stuff, either. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #64

I've read older stuff - Arthur Machen RainDog Feb 2014 #68

True Detective is great. I am enjoying Black Sails also. nt Bonobo Feb 2014 #98

I've never seen Black Sails RainDog Feb 2014 #103

Of course sexuality has an evolutionary component. NuclearDem Feb 2014 #37

There may be more to human life than survival at all costs, but only because The2ndWheel Feb 2014 #41

What you just said. nt laundry_queen Feb 2014 #119

Straw man FreeJoe Feb 2014 #38

Watch out for those strawmen - sometimes they gang up on you. nt el_bryanto Feb 2014 #46

I imagine there are as many who deny the evolutionary aspect... LanternWaste Feb 2014 #49

Well, my zoology teacher said apes and humans are of the order of primates. Cleita Feb 2014 #60

in other words:boys will be boys. how convenient. i think women need to get in on TheFrenchRazor Feb 2014 #62

Just because humans-both male and female respond to programmed triggers hobbit709 Feb 2014 #65

That's precisely the rationalization being made... LanternWaste Feb 2014 #81

That's what it sounds like to me too. nt laundry_queen Feb 2014 #120

...sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love. Tierra_y_Libertad Feb 2014 #69

Other animals may go on instinct but humans have brains treestar Feb 2014 #70

Even if there is an evolutionary component, that doesn't mean it's ethical. Gravitycollapse Feb 2014 #71

Human Exceptionalism nadinbrzezinski Feb 2014 #74

+1 Agreed Harmony Blue Feb 2014 #76

I read on DU that "evil is a uniquely human trait" .... Precisely the type of DU-fosity I have no Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #80

and people aren't apes because that is demeaning to women arely staircase Feb 2014 #82

Anyone who doesn't understand that people are primates Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #97

I think some people (apes) who know better got out on a limb arely staircase Feb 2014 #161

I'm an avid reader and fan of Goodall's LanternWaste Feb 2014 #83

That you would ask shows you have not looked into the issue. Bonobo Feb 2014 #87

I'm calling bullshit on the idea that "The Universe was perfectly 'good' and 'natural' until modern Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #95

Evil would be a uniquely human concept The2ndWheel Feb 2014 #85

Concept, yes, perhaps. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #93

It's just a big genetic crap shoot Blue Owl Feb 2014 #84

k&r for the effective use of irony. n/t Laelth Feb 2014 #88

But then why are you attracted to women whose body fat is so low they are infertile? BrotherIvan Feb 2014 #91

Great question! Bonobo Feb 2014 #94

The women on the SI cover are not so thin as to be infertile. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #99

Athletes and models often stop menstruating BrotherIvan Feb 2014 #107

Do you think it is possible for, say, religious fundamentalists to "reprogram" Gay people? Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #108

I think we're talking about different things BrotherIvan Feb 2014 #111

I just find it ridiculous how often I hear that other people are brainwashed and programmed Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #116

I think I made a pretty good argument. I even had pictures! BrotherIvan Feb 2014 #117

I also think there are a lot of common assumptions that are accepted as fact, here. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #118

According to who? kcr Feb 2014 #121

That's not a "fact", it's speculation, and for every Marilyn there was a Twiggy. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #123

Fact. Fact, fact, fact. kcr Feb 2014 #124

No, one based on spurious associations. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #125

I'm afraid that claiming facts are spurious associations doesn't make it so kcr Feb 2014 #128

That's ironic, you realize it, right? Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #132

Not as a model, for certain, unless she went plus sized. kcr Feb 2014 #134

Jezebel does not think that argument is a slam-dunk, it would seem. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #136

That doesn't refute anything I said. kcr Feb 2014 #137

It certainly seems to put the kabosh on the favored narrative, i.e. a linear and spooky/ominous Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #138

It's not new. But it is much more extreme and more narrowly defined. kcr Feb 2014 #139

You claim fact, I claim commonly accepted wisdom backed up by stuff like anecdote. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #140

But the purpose isn't to get people to lose weight kcr Feb 2014 #142

Yes, and part of the context of those ads is meta-ironic commentary Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #145

And they do it because it works kcr Feb 2014 #146

Then why are people on average gaining weight, instead of getting thinner? Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #149

Oh, my.. opiate69 Feb 2014 #126

No. I pounded my fist. kcr Feb 2014 #129

Maybe, just as frogmarch Feb 2014 #100

I'm unconvinced that the modeling industry targets men's aesthetic. lumberjack_jeff Feb 2014 #105

I hear what you are saying, but I hope you understand the fatigue women have at having BrotherIvan Feb 2014 #109

One of the women on the cover has an 18 month old child. tammywammy Feb 2014 #106

Uh um ah Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #127

I'm not. Neither is any man I know. redgreenandblue Feb 2014 #148

Women who look like that are unattractive to most men AgingAmerican Feb 2014 #157

What I'm trying to say, and it seems like most are willfully missing BrotherIvan Feb 2014 #159

I see you dropped capitalism from your little ditty. n/t R B Garr Feb 2014 #92

Not at all. Bonobo Feb 2014 #96

But in your second OP, you mocked that very thing ("media driven cultural phenomenon") R B Garr Feb 2014 #101

Sorry if things are too complex Bonobo Feb 2014 #104

Yes, they are so complicated, you needed two threads. R B Garr Feb 2014 #131

No more so than the person who started a 2nd thread to continue the conversation Major Nikon Feb 2014 #147

I like apes Vattel Feb 2014 #110

Nah, you're truly a victim of reproductive biological imperative Tsiyu Feb 2014 #115

Perfect. nt laundry_queen Feb 2014 #122

I'm Ba-a-a-a-a-a-ck! Tsiyu Feb 2014 #150

LOL, thanks for this. You put more thought into this than the OP, R B Garr Feb 2014 #135

It's a line of reasoning I formulated Tsiyu Feb 2014 #151

what about the woman who eats in front of tv and people pay to watch? RainDog Feb 2014 #141

What about it? Tsiyu Feb 2014 #153

The obvious difference is it's the fellow over at BK that's getting all red assed about your impulse Major Nikon Feb 2014 #143

No, what I do at BK Tsiyu Feb 2014 #154

This is truly a beautiful post to behold. sufrommich Feb 2014 #152

Why, thank you Tsiyu Feb 2014 #155

+++++++ Starry Messenger Feb 2014 #160

Congratulations, you have successfully destroyed a strawman of your own making YoungDemCA Feb 2014 #133

Modern mating rituals are certainly a media creation. joshcryer Feb 2014 #144