The Allure of Excess: How Sexual Selection Can Undermine a Species' Survival

[Supreme Misogynist]

Natural Selection: Survival of the Fittest

At its core, natural selection is the architect of life's resilience. Proposed by Darwin in On the Origin of Species in 1859, it operates on a simple principle: In any population, individuals vary in their traits—be it speed, camouflage, or disease resistance. Those traits that confer an advantage in a given environment allow their bearers to survive longer, reproduce more, and pass on their genes. Over generations, these beneficial traits become more common, sculpting species to fit their ecological niches like a key to a lock.Consider the classic example of the peppered moth in industrial England. During the soot-choked 19th century, darker moths blended seamlessly against polluted tree trunks, evading predatory birds. Lighter variants, once dominant, dwindled. As air quality improved, the trend reversed. This is natural selection in action: a pragmatic editor, pruning the unfit and amplifying what works. It is evolution's conservative force, ensuring that organisms are not just alive, but well-adapted to the world's unforgiving demands.

Sexual Selection: The Pursuit of Mates Over Mere Existence

Darwin did not stop at survival; in The Descent of Man (1871), he introduced sexual selection as a distinct driver of evolutionary change. Here, the currency is not longevity but reproductive success. Traits evolve not because they aid survival, but because they enhance an individual's chances of attracting a mate or outcompeting rivals for one. This can manifest in two ways: intrasexual selection, where members of one sex (often males) battle for dominance, as in the antler clashes of red deer; or intersexual selection, where one sex (typically females) chooses partners based on displays, like the iridescent plumage of birds-of-paradise.The result? Traits that dazzle or intimidate, even if they come at a cost. A male widowbird's elongated tail feathers, extended by evolution to signal vigor, make him a magnet for females—but also a clumsier flier, more vulnerable to predators. Sexual selection adds flair to the evolutionary palette, explaining the extravagant forms that natural selection alone might deem wasteful.

Fisherian Runaway: The Perilous Feedback Loop of Desire

No concept illustrates sexual selection's potential peril more vividly than Fisherian runaway, named after mathematician and biologist Ronald Fisher, who formalized it in the 1930s. This process describes a self-reinforcing cycle where a sexually selected trait and the preference for it co-evolve to extremes, potentially dooming the population that harbors them.Imagine a population of birds where females slightly favor males with longer tails—not for any survival benefit, but because the trait stands out amid uniformity. Males with longer tails mate more often, producing sons with even longer tails and daughters who inherit the bias toward length. Over generations, this genetic linkage creates a runaway escalation: tails grow longer, preferences intensify. The trait becomes a peacock's tail on steroids—ostentatious, energy-sapping, and a beacon for predators.The detriment unfolds gradually but inexorably. Those exaggerated tails, while irresistible to choosy mates, impose real costs: reduced mobility, higher caloric demands, and increased predation risk. In Fisher's model, the process halts only when natural selection intervenes—say, if longer tails lead to such high mortality that fewer males survive to breed. But if the runaway momentum is strong, it can lock a population into a vulnerability trap. Studies of guppies and stickleback fish have shown similar dynamics in labs, where preferred traits correlate with lower overall fitness.In wild populations, this can tip toward extinction. Consider the swordtail fish, where males' oversized caudal fins, honed by female choice, make them slower swimmers in predator-filled streams. A sudden environmental shift—fewer hiding spots, more hunters—and the flashy lineage falters, dragging the species with it. Fisherian runaway reveals sexual selection's blind spot: It optimizes for immediate reproductive wins, ignoring the long shadow of survival.

Evolution's Delicate Balance
Fisherian runaway serves as a cautionary tale: In evolution's lottery, beauty can be a double-edged sword, slicing through generations if unchecked by survival's stern hand. Evolution is not a quest for perfection, but a negotiation between necessity and desire.

[rever]

Excellent article.
Thankfully I shut down my biology ie hormones effect on me despite wasting 7 years

[Supreme Misogynist]

Excellent article.

Thanks, I wrote this to put an end to the stupid feminist argument that Incel/sub8 men not reproducing is good because it's "natural selection."

Thankfully I shut down my biology ie hormones effect on me despite wasting 7 years

I wish I could say the same about myself. There's no point to having sexual urges as an Incel. It's just a tremendous waste of time and energy that's better spent focusing on literally anything else.

[rever]

Thankfully I shut down my biology ie hormones effect on me despite wasting 7 years
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I wish I could say the same about myself. There's no point to having sexual urges as an Incel. It's just a tremendous waste of time and energy that's better spent focusing on literally anything else.
[/quote]

I shut it down after suffering for 7 years, wasting 70000 hours and fapping 7000 times.

Now I became a monk , no desires no wants