 Jared Diamond puts forward an idea concerning drug use in modern humans in his book The Third Chimpanzee. It goes something like this: If an adult can abuse drugs and still manages to live a productive life, then it is stronger than others who are not abusing drugs. Therefore as a mate the drug user has advantages. He also (correctly) says this is an outdated state of mind and in no way condones drug use.
While talking with my pharmacist tonight I explained this theory. I explained this using Diamond's example with birds. The male peacock is bright and can often not fly due to what would seem to be excessive plumage. Females tend to pick these mates because as Diamond says, if they can avoid predators while carring around all this excess plumage and are easier to see, then they are in fact quite strong.
My pharmacist said he heard female peacocks choose mates because they are easy to see and are rarely at the nest. Therefore, the predator will go after them and not find the nest.
This translates back into humanity as follows: I married him because he goes to the bar and gets drunk. When the town is raided by barbarians they will find him drunk at the bar and he will be easy to kill, giving us time to run away.
Russ - 5/04/2006 12:34:00 PM
I think the pharmacist's theory makes the most sense. Especially when applied to human society. Think of how often a female chooses a high risk mate. Hereafter refered to as the "Decoy Mate". Often Decoy Mates manage to reproduce more frequently than do non-decoy mates. Another thought stream that applies would be this, "If I make someone angry and they choose to attack me, my decoy-mate will, regardless of who is actually at fault, interrupt and therefore take the damage for my screw-up." This applies to the choosing of friends in some circles as well. Often the leader of a clique will surround himself with decoy-friends who can be easily convinced to get in the way, while he/she stays at the back. We see this happen in RPG group dynamics as well. Those are my two-pence.
Chuck - 5/04/2006 11:36:00 PM
My first thought was, that's going on next door to you.
But you're right, in any group I imagine there's an element of "Decoy Mate."
Jamie - 5/07/2006 08:15:00 PM
Holy mother of fuck, that's an amazing piece of art.
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