Science Forums 2

[Kriminal99]

I don't agree with the high level approach you are taking towards these ideas.

I feel like jealousy is a byproduct of our whole motivation system and could not be changed in isolation. Therefore I disagree that this is a "monogamy instinct". For that matter I think the opposing force is a byproduct of the same system.

Jealousy just seems to do with the fear of the loss in the most general sense. Also, I have observed that jealousy is greatly reduced when you remove value judgements on people. People have less of a problem (if any) with a desired person giving admiration to all than they do with that person giving admiration ONLY to someone else because they think that person is "better" in some way. Fear of deception is also an issue here - for when you are deceived, you assume that the situation is much worse than just what you have found out about.

As for the instinct to mate with many partners, it seems like we are attracted to general attributes like certain shapes, outlines etc. New relations with these general outlines are most impactful. If it wasn't for this, we would just sit staring and smiling back at the first smile we came across until we starved to death.

I would agree this system could be described as a driving force for reproduction, but I believe it is also the cause of all of our behavior.