On Friday 13 Mar 2009 6:02:32 pm Mahesh Murthy wrote: > To repeat, I have clearly stated that I believe there is a large area in > the middle between the opposite extremes of "fidelity" and "free communal > sex" that most creatures exist in. > > Coolness, liberalism, the price of fish and the GDP of North Korea didn't > come into it.
Tanks for the clarification. I presume you are no longer concerned about other peripheral issues like conservative people who may be distressed or wringing their hands. Let me first point out that human morality is an artificial construct designed by humans for other humans. While I agree that a "large area exists" describing sexual behavior of "most creatures", I reiterate that human morality as traditionally practised (by the conservatives whom you speak of) demands the restriction of human sexuality to a small area out of that large area that you describe. Humans, being human alone (a single species), do not represent "most creatures" . Human sexuality covers a wide area, but morality has attempted to reduce that sexuality to a smallish area. I believe that the restriction of human sexuality to a smallish area by the superimposition of morality has had certain survival benefits for humankind. The hypothesis that human sexuality would occupy as large an area as that occupied by most creatures if unrestricted by certain types of morality is a declaration that I cannot prove or disprove. However there is no evidence to say that changing human morality to allow human sexuality to occupy a larger area is better or worse for humans in the long term. But the lack of evidence does not stop me from having an opinion. My opinion is that changing morality to allow human sexuality to occupy a wider area would be detrimental to human society in the long term. I believe morality itself has had evolutionary effects on human society and sexual morality has actually has beneficial effects. Hence I believe that the sexual morality demanded by marriage and fidelity are beneficial. These are my views. You don't have to agree. shiv
