Pilot Whales, humans and menopause.

[Fiannan]

MorningStar, animals eat, we eat...animals go through breeding cycles, humans go through breeding cycles...animals care for their young, humans care for their young...

Now there are two ways you can look at this and they are either that we share common ancestors or that we share a common designer. I believe the latter. The big difference is that we have a soul that is capable of abstract choice and creativity rather than pure instinct.

We should not discount our biological urges or design. There has to be a reason humans are designed the way they are and yes we can speculate on the reasons but should not pretend we are not similar to animals in many ways. To see that the extended family model benefits the aged as well as the young is something our ancestors would have said was self evident. Many American Indians said that our responsibilites in the family unit extend five generations. That fits what I am saying quite well I believe.

[MorningStar]

Yeah, and some animals kill their young, so uhhhhh ....... I'm just not big into modeling animal behavior and would rather take my pointers on my purpose in life from the scriptures and modern prophets. :) There are lots of similarities to animals and there are lots of differences.

[Fiannan]

Yeah, and some animals kill their young, so uhhhhh ....... I'm just not big into modeling animal behavior and would rather take my pointers on my purpose in life from the scriptures and modern prophets. :) There are lots of similarities to animals and there are lots of differences.

Nobody said people should act like animals -- the point is that much of our behavior is actually based on biology and once we recognize that, and combine it with our understanding of scripture, then we are more able to come to gripes with the creation -- both around us as well as inside us.

[Palerider]

Nobody said people should act like animals -- the point is that much of our behavior is actually based on biology and once we recognize that, and combine it with our understanding of scripture, then we are more able to come to gripes with the creation -- both around us as well as inside us.

sorry.....I don't agree......ooppsss...just noticed the person is banned....

[MorningStar]

I was just telling a friend about this thread and went looking for it. I can't believe it's still open! Still stands out in my mind as one of the most offensive (yet laughable) things I've ever read in regards to women. My mom was thrilled when I informed her it was her job to help me raise my children now that her lack of uterus has left her with no purpose. I'm sure she's also excited to send my dad off to find someone fertile.

[Moksha]

I was just telling a friend about this thread and went looking for it. I can't believe it's still open! Still stands out in my mind as one of the most offensive (yet laughable) things I've ever read in regards to women. My mom was thrilled when I informed her it was her job to help me raise my children now that her lack of uterus has left her with no purpose. I'm sure she's also excited to send my dad off to find someone fertile.

I think that the shift to the nuclear family began with the industrial revolution. The extended family worked as the prime entity up to that point. Had you been born in an earlier era, your mom would have helped with the children as a natural part of the household. It was part of everyone's job to make sure things worked well.

[marshac]

Biologically there is a really good reason to keep people around- it's called kin selection.

Kin selection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[beefche]

Without looking up that link, kin selection sounds like something that is done by the single males at a family reunion in Kentucky.

[MorningStar]

The question posed about why women live so long after they're infertile, I think that's pretty obvious. It takes a long time before human babies can safely be on their own. Can you imagine all of the motherless children if we died right after giving birth to our last child?

What I hated the most about the whale comparison is the suggestion that if male whales move on to impregnate younger female whales, it only makes sense that human males would do the same since they are still fertile late in life. It just makes us human women sound so expendable, as in, "I'm done with you and your dusty old uterus now. Go help our daughters raise their children so they can have as many as possible, after which their husbands will dump them too for someone younger."

If our biology should dictate how humans behave, supposedly pointing towards polygamy being the way to live life, why isn't it a woman's biology to feel OK about that? It's our nature to feel betrayed by anything other than complete monogamy, so why should a man's nature rule? This idea only serves a man who wants to have multiple partners, never having to stay with a woman as she gets older. I'm tired of supposed faithful members of the church online who seem to be pushing for polygamy, using any justification they can when our prophets condemn the practice. So here is the same guy on another board now saying that polygamy is the perfect solution for lesbians because if they wanted to have a child by using a donor, they could have a husband who is the donor - that way the children will still have a father and the women can be with each other if the man is more "liberal minded", also arguing that the Bible only condemns male homosexuality.

This idea made me want to vomit. And then I remembered this not so touching thread about menopausal whales and how it makes sense for humans to do as they do. I can't even count the many animal kingdom behaviors that we should never imitate.

[marshac]

If our biology should dictate how humans behave, supposedly pointing towards polygamy being the way to live life, why isn't it a woman's biology to feel OK about that? It's our nature to feel betrayed by anything other than complete monogamy, so why should a man's nature rule? .

I think you're mistaking your cultural norms for biology. If you were raised in a society where polygamy was the norm without reference to religion, etc, you would probably feel very differently. Since we're raised in a society that dictates (in somewhat strong terms) what a proper relationship should be, we accept that as normal.