Wildly speculating here, but maybe the anxiety and disinterest men sometimes feel after their first time with a new partner is “meant” to remove them from the situation so the next guy can have a turn?
Be very skeptical of explanations that rely on group selection. As explained in the posts linked to from that wiki page, humans love to engage in motivated reasoning to explain why the alien god is nice. Sorry, evolution isn’t.
I’m not referring to group selection. If you’re living in a close community, then once you’ve had your chance to conceive, there’s not a lot of benefit in fighting off other suitors, since you’ll be helping raise the child anyway; conversely, rivalry against other males is risky and socially divisive—which, since your band is probably rather small, can have serious consequences for you as an individual. This is not to say that all men will simply flee the scene once they’ve consummated their desire: for starters, we’re a hell of a long way from evolutionary equilibrium, and even then it’s not clear that the game in question has a dominant strategy, especially once you factor in complicating influences from women’s sexual selection of men and from various social pressures. More likely we’d see a diversity of different strategies.
I’m not referring to group selection. If you’re living in a close community, then once you’ve had your chance to conceive, there’s not a lot of benefit in fighting off other suitors,
If its valuable for the other suitors its valuable for you.
since you’ll be helping raise the child anyway;
Yes, but you want to be as certain as possible about which children are yours so you can favor them. And, yes, even in a close knit community there are many ways to do that short of causing the tribe to break down.
More likely we’d see a diversity of different strategies.
Be very skeptical of explanations that rely on group selection. As explained in the posts linked to from that wiki page, humans love to engage in motivated reasoning to explain why the alien god is nice. Sorry, evolution isn’t.
I’m not referring to group selection. If you’re living in a close community, then once you’ve had your chance to conceive, there’s not a lot of benefit in fighting off other suitors, since you’ll be helping raise the child anyway; conversely, rivalry against other males is risky and socially divisive—which, since your band is probably rather small, can have serious consequences for you as an individual. This is not to say that all men will simply flee the scene once they’ve consummated their desire: for starters, we’re a hell of a long way from evolutionary equilibrium, and even then it’s not clear that the game in question has a dominant strategy, especially once you factor in complicating influences from women’s sexual selection of men and from various social pressures. More likely we’d see a diversity of different strategies.
If its valuable for the other suitors its valuable for you.
Yes, but you want to be as certain as possible about which children are yours so you can favor them. And, yes, even in a close knit community there are many ways to do that short of causing the tribe to break down.
Well, yes this is in fact what one observes.