Reply to comment

I think one aspect of the conversation that has been neglected is the fact that as human beings we are extremely socially advanced and evolved. Being in contact with other people is a big part of our development socially, physically and emotionally. I think that we have a highly evolved emotional regulatory system that has not been fully explored. Also, I feel that the emotional regulatory system is variable from one person to the other, hence the social diversity seen in the populace. One important chemical factor involved in the emotional regulatory system is the chemical pathways associated with reward. I think that relationships are rewarding and make people feel good, hence dopamine pathways. Since relationships can be tied to dopamine pathways and reward, a person who is not monogamous can be seen as, what we call “addicted to love”. I feel that our emotional regulatory systems navigate and influence our choices of monogamy.

Also I feel that monogamy has a very historical basis. Evolutionarily, it was more efficient to be in a pair bond forever because it allowed more access to resources. In today’s world, access to resources is not limited and people who are not in a pair bond are able to survive and function equally as those who are with a partner. Thus, the lack of monogamy seen in today’s world can be seen as an evolutionary process in which each individual person can survive and have access to all resources without a partner. Also, as said before, I think this lack of monogamy is due in part to our highly evolved emotional regulatory system that finds it rewarding to be around people, the more people the better, the more rewarding.