Contraception in the light of evolution

People these days often say that they want few children or even no children. The reasons - or more accurately justifications and rationalizations - are many, but the most popular one is overpopulation.

Unfortunately, they have a serious lack of knowledge and/or understanding about evolution and how it works.

Every man has a fatherhood instinct, and every woman has a motherhood instinct. But the thing about the motherhood and fatherhood instincts is that they are not "all or nothing". Instead there is a continuum going from no motherhood instinct to strong motherhood instinct, and all women fall somewhere along this continuum. It is the same with the fatherhood instinct - there is a continuum going from no fatherhood instinct to strong fatherhood instinct, and all men fall somewhere along this continuum.

The motherhood and fatherhood instincts are controlled by genes, so they fall under "nature". They are not to be confused with "parenting skills" which fall under "nurture". It is the same instinct that causes the feeling of the "biological clock" in older women approaching the end of their reproductive career. They are physiological needs.

It is the people who have a weaker motherhood or fatherhood instinct who are more likely to have fewer children. And those who have stronger instincts will have more children. So if this state of affairs continues, the genes responsible for weaker instincts will slowly be bred out of the human gene pool, and the genes responsible for stronger instincts will slowly predominate.

In fact, the pill and safe contraception are accelerating this process. In the past, people often had children against their will. Women had no choice but to reproduce, because they gave sex in exchange for security, and sex meant babies. Men also had no choice because sex is a physiological need for them. But now, contraception allows men to take care of this physiological need without the usual consequences. And women can give sex in exchange for security (or they don't need security from a man because they are economically independent) without the usual consequences. But no contraception can dampen or eliminate the motherhood and fatherhood instincts. A woman will feel the biological clock ticking when she hits her mid to late 30s, regardless of which form of contraception she's using. And the stronger these instincts become, the less effective contraception will be. Consider that many single teenage mothers choose to have babies regardless of the availability of contraception, and regardless of the risks. That is the motherhood instinct in action.

So future generations of people will have stronger parenting instincts, which will drive them to have more children. What delicious irony!

The parable of the cats

A man had recently moved into a new neighbourhood. As he was walking towards the market one day, he noticed that there were a few cats about and they looked very scrawny and hungry. Being a kind-hearted person, he took pity on them and while in the market buying what he needed, he also bought some cat food.
He gave some food to the cats who were very happy indeed. They made cute little noises and rubbed up against him. This warmed his heart. He decided to feed the cats about once a day or so. Very soon, the cats started looking quite healthy and not at all like their former feral and scrawny selves.

Time went by and a few of the cats started to have babies. The number of cats just about doubled. The man at first didn't take much notice; he fed them the same amount as usual. As there were more cats, there was less food per cat. Sometimes fights would break out and the most aggressive and strongest cat would get the lion's share. Some cats started to look scrawny and hungry again. The man, noticing this, decided to give them more food "otherwise some of them might die of hunger", he said to himself.

More time passed and there were double again the number of cats. Again, some cats ate more (because they were stronger and more aggressive) and some ate less, and as a result quite a lot of the cats were hungry and close to death. The man again decided to give them even more food. Again the cats started to look well-fed and healthy again.

Even more time passed and now the number of cats had doubled yet again! And now a very large number of cats were starving. The man was quite distressed because he really didn't want the cats to die. But he couldn't afford to buy the cats any more food. As he stood there not knowing what to do, a wise old man (who's regular habit it was to spend some time relaxing on a nearby bench) watching the scene, stood up and walked over to the man who had been feeding the cats.

He said, "My friend, I've been watching you for quite a long time now while I sit here every evening. Long ago, when you first saw that those few cats were starving, you should have just left them alone. Yes, perhaps even to die. You thought you were doing good by feeding those cats, but now you see what has happened? Now there are 10 times the number of cats starving and near death. And not only that - do you dear something strange?"

"No, I can't hear anything."

"Exactly. There aren't as many birds here as there used to be. The cats have eaten most of them. You see, your mistake is in thinking that death is something bad and to be feared and avoided. But the truth is, life and death go hand in hand. They are 2 faces of the same coin. They must always be in balance. Too much life is as bad as too much death. Now go your way and don't worry about the cats anymore. Let Death come and take, with interest, what has been kept from him for so long."

Heeding the wise man's advice, he went home and didn't come again to feed the cats. Soon he forgot about the whole thing. He eventually moved to a different neighbourhood. A year or so later, he happened to be passing through the neighbourhood he used to live in, and noticed a few cats about and they looked very scrawny and hungry. With some sadness in his heart, he forced himself to look away and went about his business.