Comments on The Faith Heuristic: Cuckolding and the War Between the Sexes

Hiya March, That's not true. I'm a big fan of Sar...

2009-11-25T11:06:57.740-05:00

Hiya March,

That's not true. I'm a big fan of Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. She is a feminist sociobiologist. Thus her research basically boils down to "women are mean SOB's too." For example, high status women can claim a larger share of the group's food supply for her own offspring even if the children of other women go hungry. High status women can also secure the support of allomothers (generally low status females) to watch the kids while she gathers food. The "career vs. kids" debate is nothing new in human nature. Women have to choose between competing strategies: gain high status and let others raise her kids, or raise the kids herself?

See my review of one of her books here.

But this is a blog not a philosophy journal. My posts are already pretty long and I can't explore the entire body of sociobiology in every post. Particularly since I tend to go with the flow of the conversations on other blogs and most men talk about status competitions from a male persepective.

One of the problems I have with your view, Justin,...

2009-11-25T09:41:54.373-05:00

One of the problems I have with your view, Justin, is that women are seen not as autonomous beings with their own goals and strategies.

Women have various goals and strategies, one of which is to snare a man (rarely an alpha, more likely a financially stable beta - if only you'd properly define what an alpha is and what a beta is!) and settle down. Other women want careers and will try to 'bag' as many alphas as possible, some will try to tame an alpha.

Obviously a theory has to simplify certain aspects of what it is describing, but your seems to accept many differences between males and ignores differences between females.

One of the ironic twists of modern technology is t...

2009-11-25T09:29:10.675-05:00

One of the ironic twists of modern technology is that alpha males now have the fewest children. But if alpha status is about gaining sexual access to women rather than procreating we have the same dynamic.

I think the logical fallacy of the appeal to nature runs deep in human nature. As a conservative Christian who believes in abstinence, I don't approve of alpha behavior. I just want people to realize that Roissy has a firmer grasp on reality than your typical feminist.

The whole alpha, beta, omega is just modern mythol...

2009-11-24T17:03:20.550-05:00

The whole alpha, beta, omega is just modern mythology. Sure there may be a sliver of evolutionary truth but it over simplifies to the point of absurdity. It’s basically a male rationalization to act badly in reaction against feminism. But as a male, I will play along. :)

You are using the term “alpha” to mean genetically superior where I would view it as a type of strategy. If a male has had hundreds of sexual partners then I would say that he would fit the “alpha” definition but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has better genes especially in modern society. We could define better genes in a lot of ways but lets use the term to mean the likelihood of having offspring and I would wager that the “beta” strategy is more likely to have children then the “alpha” strategy in modern society. With birth control, abortion, and a self centered culture that views children as a burden, the alpha strategy doesn’t seem to get’er done. Hanson recent post on monogamy is also interesting in this light.

Personally, I would rename the term “alpha” as scoundrel and view the relationship between man and woman as cooperative in the divine plan as opposed to a battle between the sexes. Doing this seems more Biblical anyway.

One last thing, Hanson’s view on mandatory paternity testing is a terrible idea.

It seems that cuckolding is a little harsh though....

2009-11-24T14:08:58.017-05:00

It seems that cuckolding is a little harsh though. Women reserve the right to essentially cut off a man's genetic line because he plays golf with his buddies too much? Can't she just burn his dinner or something?

Hi March, I am confused why you think a libertari...

2009-11-23T22:48:17.838-05:00

Hi March,

I am confused why you think a libertarian would be for mandatory anything?

See Robin Hanson's comment in the original thread on his blog. It might actually be a worth a post: the growing backlash against the "axiomatic libertarian." I am not a libertarian but my take is that sophisticated libertarians are far more open to coercion than less sophisticated libertarians. Obviously there are exceptions like David Friedman.

I think Hanson would argue that the situation you describe is inefficient. If you could create a situation in which men could get the same information but without essentially making an accusation of infidelity then the efficient outcome would be reached. But of course, that requires government coercion in the form of mandatory paternity tests.

I am confused why you think a libertarian would be...

2009-11-23T18:58:44.940-05:00

I am confused why you think a libertarian would be for mandatory anything?

As a libertarian of sorts I am vehemently opposed to forcing people to do anything.

The only possible action here would be for a father who has doubts to refuse to pay for the upkeep of the child unless the mother consents to a paternity test.

That would mean 98% of men would have accused their wife/partner of cheating and be wrong as well as refusing to pay for their own child's well-being. The odds are massively stacked against this ever happening so a reasonably rational male (alpha, beta or gamma) would not ever ask for a paternity test if they had any wish to stay with the mother.