Male sex drive 'to blame for world's conflicts'

Submitted by Broadsword on Mon, 2012-01-23 18:23

Article here. Excerpt:

'The male sex drive is to blame for most of the world's conflicts from football hooliganism to religious disputes and even world wars, according to scientists. The "male warrior" instinct means that men are programmed to be aggressive towards anyone they view as an outsider, a study claims.

In evolutionary terms an instinct for violence against others helped early men improve their status and gain more access to mates, but in modern terms this can translate into large-scale wars.

In contrast women are naturally equipped with a "tend and befriend" attitude which means they seek to resolve conflicts peacefully in order to protect their children, researchers said.
...
Although men's hostile responses most likely evolved to combat the threat from outsiders, they "might not be functional in modern times and are often counterproductive," experts said.'

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What kind of ethics are those?

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Submitted by mens_issues on Wed, 2012-01-25 01:54

The reason we invaded Iraq was because George Bush was horny? C'mon, this is simplistic reductionism under the guise of "science."

First, we might consider female sex drive, which seems to favor aggressive males. Paul Elam observed that Scott Petersen, convicted of killing his wife and unborn child, received a large number of marriage proposals in jail.

Second, as to resolving conflicts peacefully, well, a lot of women depend on male aggressiveness to protect them and their children from harm. That doesn't make women peacemakers, just prudent. A lot of male aggressiveness is directed toward protecting women and children from harm--including sacrificing their own lives.

Third, this assumes that threats from outsiders are totally imaginary--but often they're not. Did we imagine 9/11?

War is generally used by states as a means to an end--for land, oil, possessions, tribute, etc. It is also used in defense. The state uses men to conduct these wars because it considers men more expendable and better able to do the job. Women generally agree (though not always). Defensive wars, at least, provide for the security needs of both men and women.

In our culture, women are never to blame for anything, so this conclusion was predetermined. Of course, blaming men for everything leads to a huge burden of male guilt and I suspect leads to more male aggressiveness--if you're already convicted of the crime you might as well do the crime.

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Submitted by el cid on Sat, 2012-01-28 18:10