![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Writer's Block: There Can Be Only One
[Error: unknown template qotd]I have a hard time "believing" in something that rarely works and often leads to misery and heartache. Do I believe in commitment? Yes. Do I believe in special relationships between two people? Absolutely. But it seems to me to be completely naive to not recognize that "cheating" is rampant and causes so much difficulty, and it's quite obvious that the whole concept of cheating goes away when people realize that love is not a scarce commodity, that it's better to share, and that, even when time and energy are limited, that being with more than one person at once can enhance the quality of life for all people involved. Monogamy comes from insecurity and jealousy, and both of those feelings are very negative and self-destructive. If you have a true commitment with a person, even if that person is being shared with other people, you shouldn't feel insecure or jealous. When that person demonstrates his or her commitment to you over and over (the same way it would happen with monogamy) what more evidence do you require - and why would it matter that he or she spends time with another person as long as you get what you need from him or her?
no subject
no subject
A quick google search and filtering though the primary source papers seems to lead that for primate it's all over the place. You've got polygyny in gorillas and some old world monkeys and a few rare cases of plyangry in some monkeys. Monogamy you'll see the gibbon as the only ape listed, but again some species of monkeys (both old world and new world). Chimps are listed as under promiscuity due to males not having sole access to females.
Way too much info, but check out some of the links if you search for "monogamy in primates". Real interesting stuff.
Short answer: primates are complicated. Since we are also primates, we are also complicated. :P I still think serial monogamy is the best way to describe humans (having one partner for x time then moving on to one partner only for x time...etc). For humans you have a lot of enviromental factors (I'll list religion and the concept of the "social norm" for this) but not sure if that really is the ideal or natural thing.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject