Reply #33: It sounds as if you reinvented Maxwell's Demon [View All]

[muriel_volestrangler]

http://www.auburn.edu/~smith01/notes/maxdem.htm

So, not such a silly concept after all... ;-)

I haven't read The Third Chimpanzee, so I don't know exactly what Diamond said. But general posing and boasting, including doing stupid and dangerous things to impress others, are universal traits of young men, which definitely look like the displays of many other species; and the binge drinking culture ("I can drink you under the table") isn't that far off it. I wouldn't say it's been specifically selected for in genes; more that it's a modern manifestation of something that was selected for thousands, or maybe even millions, of years ago.

As far as selection of genes that produce homosexuality goes, I'd be wary of anyone who claims to have the whole thing worked out; but selfish gene theory would say that a non-reproducing sister who helps look after children in a family group is getting just as many of her genes reproduced as a grandmother who is no longer having children. In a complex group, like that of any human, having a minority of women not actually reproducing at their maximum rate may not be a disadvantage, if they still cooperate with others. On top of that, genes that may produce a homosexual preference may also be linked to other traits that are advantageous for the group overall. I don't know what the latest work and theories are.