[Avodah] Morality Does Have an Evolutionary Advantage

[Jay F. Shachter]

There are two mechanisms that guide evolution: natural selection,
which Darwin described in The Origin Of Species, and sexual selection,
which Darwin first described in The Descent Of Man.  The article that
was summarized, and then quoted at length, in Avodah v40i77, discusses
how natural selection could have brought about human social
cooperation, as if the article were written by someone who read The
Origin Of Species (and then extrapolated from it to human evolution,
since The Origin Of Species never explicitly discusses human
evolution) and never read The Descent Of Man.

I have a short ("short" as in "only one page long") essay which
suggests that God may have used sexual selection, not natural
selection, as the mechanism for bringing about human social
cooperation.  I originated the idea while thinking about a puzzling
arrangement in human sexual anatomy.

I don't think I can safely present this one-page essay in this mailing
list; there are straight-laced members of this mailing list who may
feel offended, or, if not offended, then uncomfortable, if they read
it.  I wrote something much less explicit in this mailing list some
years ago, and, after publishing it, the editor of this mailing list
then publicly stated, in this mailing list, that he should not have
published it.  I don't want to give him an opportunity to sin in this
way again.  Now, inasmuch as the editor of this mailing list has
already forfeited his share in the World to Come, one may wonder why
it matters if he forfeits it again.  The answer is that the editor of
this mailing list may still repent, and regain his share in the World
to Come (it is unlikely that he will, because he has not, these many
years, and he has ignored annually e-mailed reminders to do so; but he
still might), because he has committed the sin only once.  If,
however, the editor of this mailing list commits the sin twice, then
he will certainly never repent of it, and his already-lost share in
the World to Come will be irretrievable.

If you are interested in reading a one-page essay that suggests an
explanation for a puzzling arrangement in human sexual anatomy, by
attributing to it, thru sexual selection, the way human social
cooperation became widespread in the human race, you can find it on my
website at http://m5.chicago.il.us/docs/social_cooperation.pdf.

               Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
               6424 North Whipple Street
               Chicago IL  60645-4111
                       (1-773)7613784   landline
                       (1-410)9964737   GoogleVoice
                       jay at m5.chicago.il.us
                       http://m5.chicago.il.us

               When Martin Buber was a schoolboy, it must have been
               no fun at all playing tag with him during recess.