h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

but animals select their mate purely on the basis of whose DNA combined with their own is going to give their genes the best chance in the lottery of life.

Humans don't have that biological imperative hanging over them any more.

But I agree whole heartedly I see some of the men my friends are with and I think "surely it is better to be alone!"

Actually I saw an article somewhere, where the headline was "Are birth control pills making women loose their ability to choose a partner?" I think that was the headline, but it seems awfully long. The point was something about birth-control pills making women less sensitive to male pheromones. But I didn´t read it, just skim it.

I don´t think there should be a right to have children, it is a privilege not a right. People think too little about how their children will feel today. I remember reading a news article about a woman who was artificially impregnated when she was 55 and her husband the same. And she talked about how she could be just as good a parent even if she was old. True, but looking at average lifespans, the child has a 75% chance of one of the parents dying before it´s 20. That´s not a very ncie thing to do to a child. And what about when they get old and senile, and the child is a teenager. Poor kid.

Maybe it's not the pill that stops women smelling a rat, but aftershave and other pongy preparations for the disguising for a person's natural odour. Either way, people put a hell of a lot of effort into misrepresenting themselves to the opposite sex and it must be difficult for the victims of these cunning and subtle subterfuges to see or sniff their way through them.

I agree with you about the elderly parents. It certainly appears that the interests of the child are the last thing under consideration in cases like the one you mention.

Maybe it's not the pill that stops women smelling a rat, but aftershave and other pongy preparations for the disguising of a person's natural odour. Either way, people put a hell of a lot of effort into misrepresenting themselves to the opposite sex and it must be difficult for the victims of these cunning and subtle subterfuges to see or sniff their way through them.

I agree with you about the elderly parents. It certainly appears that the interests of the child are the last thing under consideration in cases like the one you mention.

Doh! How did that happen? Sorry, it must've just gone off in my hand.

Well it's all about survival of the fittest. Getting yourself banged up away from the opposite sex for however long is a fairly good way of removing undesirable genes from the gene pool.

No, convicted criminals shouldn't be allowed to breed.

Hooloovoo

Very true, but what if the ruling class was a bunch of inbred loonies? There have been periods in history when that was the case. Everyone kicking against the system might be locked up. Then all the best genes would be in prison. Just a thought.

If anyone had died by my actions or inactions I would be so horrified that I would want to die and wouldnt be able to go on, I wouldnt be thinking about having children, I would be in a pit of despair.

You have just given everyone a huge hint as to why relationships and marriages are failing in such depressingly large numbers. I quote from your post:
"..aftershave and other pongy preparations for the disguising of a person's natural odour. Either way, people put a hell of a lot of effort into misrepresenting themselves to the opposite sex and it must be difficult for the victims of these cunning and subtle subterfuges to see or sniff their way through them."

You are absofriggin'lutely correct! How can a relationship survive if it isn't honest to begin with?
The question is rhetorical. And we've moved off-topic to the interesting question of what's 'wrong the world today' (loss of natural sensibilties, pretense, false gods, etc)

But getting back to the original Subject:
Why is it always stated as 'Human Rights' ..just to distinguish from 'animal rights' perhaps? The 'prisoner' might be better off demanding his animal rights to breed. Humans in general really don't deserve to continue breeding...

I think the reasons marriages fail today is they are no longer needed. It is a left-over from when men and women had specific roles. If a guy was rich, he could get a pretty wife. If a girl was pretty, she could get a rich husband. And they both got what they wanted. But today where a woman has the money she need, why would she need a man? Honestly, I don´t think marriage was ever really about love, it is more a sort of alliance. If the two people loved each other, why would they need legal documentation to keep each other from running off?

I think weddings are great - a chance to get together with all your friends and celebrate the way the couple feel about each other.

The problem is too many people do it just for the sake of it. I remember two weddings I went to in the space of about 3 weeks, the first was a wedding as a verb, we came together to join together a couple who love each other desperately and it was a wonderful day. We danced and sang and drank all night and I can honestly say I have rarely been as happy and replete as that day.

The second was a wedding (noun) a dry and meaningless social event. I got into a drinking competition with the best man's brother, downed 5 large tumblers of red wine one after the other and 20 minutes later was violently sick. I hated every moment of that day.

I am not a big fan of marriage and am very cynical about relationships. Having watched my parent's generation rip each other shreds I doubt I will get into the same position. The interesting point is all of my female friends are now far better at financial planning as they have watched their fathers leave their mothers virtually on the poverty line after divorce settlements. It is all very sad.

The Caffeine Kid, stop it. You're being too sensitive. If a person with your level of sensitivity and horror at the prospect of killing someone, actually killed someone, it would probably be an accident. It sounds as though you're beating yourself up at the very thought of it. If nasty murderers succeed in breeding and nice people are careful not to, in a few generations the world will be full of nasty people. I can't pretend to know but I think that's how natural selection is supposed to work. Try watching the 6 o'clock news every day. That should desensitise you a little, in time.

Well, then if the whole population is full of nasty people, we will die out. So being nice to each other should prevent that. Now we just need to get the women to go along with it.