The world is developing at a breakneck pace. Man with his Stone Age mind is drawn into completely new and constantly changing terrains, but where our appetite for food, resources or preferences in sexual partners have not changed.
We like to think that development is taking us into an increasingly favorable world for everyone. But we haven’t had time to ask ourselves: What will happen when we finally manage to get ourselves unlimited access to what was previously a scarce commodity? What the brain has been crying out for throughout our evolutionary history.
Let’s take a classic example that may be familiar to many – sugar.
Fast calories in the form of sugar have been a rare commodity in our prehistoric world. As a result, our sweet tooth switch is pretty much always on. After we were able to process huge amounts of refined sugar, this switch has created a health problem for very many.
Similarly, endless access to porn has appealed particularly strongly to men as sexual opportunists. A type of sexual abundance that was only a distant fantasy among the men of the past.
What about women’s partner preference?
Also read: Where does the man become who is neither too high nor too short on himself?
Who wins?
To raise children, prehistoric women depended on a long-term partner who contributed resources, care and protection from danger. Now, with a solid education and stable income, women are not as dependent on choosing the most resourceful men. They are more free to choose from a wider selection, including the lower strata.
But in the same way that access to huge amounts of sugar or porn has not satisfied our desires, the partner preference for resourceful men has not disappeared either. Rather, it seems to have increased. Successful women still choose upwards, a phenomenon called hypergami.
The result is that even more men are selected, and fewer men remain as relevant candidates. Who really wins from that?
Of course not the men who become involuntarily childless. But it is also not a particularly favorable outcome for the women who have it swipet forward the same most attractive men on the dating market, and now find themselves in a strong majority in an even narrower dating market. The competition for the few desirable men has become even tougher.
Pair formations will then be governed to a greater extent by the conditions of the exclusive men, who can pick and choose according to their own preferences for age and appearance, be less dedicated to their partner, practice short-term relationships and Exchange out partners more frequently. In other words: when such men are a rare commodity, it becomes extra difficult to find “good” men.
Also read: Some men are just jerks, without it being about you being a woman
Equality
You can say that these men at the top will therefore come out as the biggest winners. But even here it can come at a price – a lack of incentive to establish a family with a permanent partner.
When other women are constantly knocking on the door, it can be difficult to settle down, as well as your female partner feeling that the relationship is constantly under threat.
A progressive egalitarian society does not combine equally well with all our evolved psychological mechanisms. It may be tempting to say that equality has therefore gone too far, but then it is wise to remember that we do not prevent the production of sugar or porn either.
Western societies with secular values strive for as many individual choices as possible. Then it is rather up to each individual to make their own informed choices, fully aware of what the consequences may be.