Sexual Selection Research Paper

In all of the years that human beings have walked the Earth, and changed over the course of time, the species has not evolved mentally. They can speak many languages to communicate with one another; they can make vast calculations in areas of science and mathematics; and they can even travel to other planets in our solar system. With all of these accomplishments of the modern day, it’s safe to say that humans are more developed and advanced than ever before. However, the human mind is essentially the same as it was many years ago when we were in the Stone Age; the human mind is programmed (Nicholson, 1998). This paper will discuss how this programmed mindset of human beings may have been advantageous in the past, but how it will be the downfall

Sexual selection is how a creature will appear either suitable or unsuitable for mating purposes based on traits and qualities. Most sexually selective factors can be seen as harmful or considered as disadvantageous- such as plumage in birds, or antlers on deer, or even mating calls and rituals (Miller, n.d; Puts, 2010). These traits, for instance, abundant plumage and large antlers, are thought to be disadvantageous because they can potentially lead to slower responses of the animal due to a larger mass - “the bigger they are, the harder they fall”. However, sexually selective factors can also be seen as advantageous and quite significant. Where we see these beautiful colours and patterns in fur and plumage, and large antlers on stags, we see that the organisms have an abundance of energy and nutrients so that they can create these attractive features (Miller, n.d.). The abundance of energy, strength and agility means that the organism is well fit for survival and thus attracts mates more often (Miller, n.d.). These advantageous traits of strength, energy and even intelligence, can be highly influential when creatures are searching for

Throughout the evolution of mankind we have become much more advanced than what we were in the past, but we still have a similar mindset today as we did back then (Nicholson, 1998). We undergo sexual selection and reproduction everyday in choosing whether or not a person is suitable for mating with. At the same time, we use instincts in everyday life for making decisions. As our population rises and reproduction rates continue to increase, the competitive instincts we still have from our past will come into play. Resources will become more limited which will make greed rise in first world countries; loyalties will come into play, and the instinct of fighting for what we want will prevail over the instinct of flight. The result will most likely be a war where death and loss will outweigh survival and gain. The reason this will be so hard to fix is because we have evolved for so long, but we are still so similar to our ancient ancestors-we are hardwired. This problem is almost impossible to fix because to fix it would be contradictory to what the human being’s purpose is- to reproduce and survive. The more we reproduce, the more we must fight to survive with the limited resources we will have. In conclusion, this report has highlighted how these human behaviours that stay with us today may have been beneficial in our past, but if we