So, what else are men to blame for?

[draco664]

How's about... menopause!

Yup, it's mens' desire for younger females that is to blame for menopause, according to a new study.

Personally, I think that it's just another data point that proves that gender-studies should be removed from the 'science' faculties and shoehorned next to the astrologists and homeopaths.

[Kheldarson]

I don't think it's a gender study...it's a little weird, granted, but we're talking evolution. Who's to know? They could be right. Course, it could have to deal with other things entirely. Somebody else will have to challenge them.

[Greenday]

I thought menopause was the body's reaction to not having babies which is usually quite unsafe at the age you have menopause. But what do I know? I only use real logic to come up with that.

[Hyena Dandy]

Singh and two colleagues tested the theory on a virtual population, using a computer simulation.

We had a hypothesis, and we ourselves programmed a way to test it, and shockingly, it turned out we were right.

...Yay?

[Kheldarson]

I thought menopause was the body's reaction to not having babies which is usually quite unsafe at the age you have menopause. But what do I know? I only use real logic to come up with that.

I think the point was to pinpoint the cause of the first bit. If a guy can conceivably help create kids until he's like 80, why can't a woman?

This is just one answer.

It's an interesting hypothesis at least.

[Greenday]

I think the point was to pinpoint the cause of the first bit. If a guy can conceivably help create kids until he's like 80, why can't a woman?

Because they wouldn't have any eggs by 80 years old. Also, after age 40, women are extremely more likely to start giving birth to babies with genetic disorders.

[Kheldarson]

Because they wouldn't have any eggs by 80 years old. Also, after age 40, women are extremely more likely to start giving birth to babies with genetic disorders.

But is that caused by lack of use as these guys propose--as a genetic development--or because of a different reason?

And if it's a genetic evolution, then can we reverse it?

[Greenday]

But is that caused by lack of use as these guys propose--as a genetic development--or because of a different reason?

And if it's a genetic evolution, then can we reverse it?

It's not like you can use eggs on command. Women release one (usually) egg per month and that's that. They'll still have some eggs stored up when they reach their fourties, but they just aren't as good anymore. This is beyond anyone's control. A woman could get laid every day, but that won't change how old her eggs are.

[Kheldarson]

It's not like you can use eggs on command. Women release one (usually) egg per month and that's that. They'll still have some eggs stored up when they reach their fourties, but they just aren't as good anymore. This is beyond anyone's control. A woman could get laid every day, but that won't change how old her eggs are.

But that's the exact question they're asking. Why is this the way? And if we can find the why, then can you reverse it? Change it? Otherwise use it for something else entirely?

And believe me, I'm well aware we only drop one egg a month.

Who knows? Maybe this research will lead to some of the sci-fi book conventions of being able to completely control a woman's fertility?

[Greenday]

But that's the exact question they're asking. Why is this the way? And if we can find the why, then can you reverse it? Change it? Otherwise use it for something else entirely?

And believe me, I'm well aware we only drop one egg a month.

Who knows? Maybe this research will lead to some of the sci-fi book conventions of being able to completely control a woman's fertility?

Because stuff goes bad as it gets older. This is true for just about everything. Men wanting younger women (Which is just a stereotype) doesn't explain the process by any means.

[Kheldarson]

Because stuff goes bad as it gets older. This is true for just about everything. Men wanting younger women (Which is just a stereotype) doesn't explain the process by any means.

So how is it men can father children into their 90's? Why can't a woman do the same?

We have a biological reason (things go bad as it gets older) that's true in one gender, not the other. Why is that?

Do I agree with the hypothesis presented here? Not necessarily. Like Hyena Dandy, I question their method to get their findings. But I find the research itself interesting for its implications.

Hence why my initial statement of this not being a "gender study" to be put with "astrologist and homeopaths."

[Andara Bledin]

So how is it men can father children into their 90's? Why can't a woman do the same?

This question is answered by simple biology. All of the cells that will become ova are developed prior to a woman's birth. Sperm, on the other hand, develop constantly during a man's lifetime. It's just that simple.

Sperm don't go bad because when they get old, they just die and are replaced.

[Kheldarson]

This question is answered by simple biology. All of the cells that will become ova are developed prior to a woman's birth. Sperm, on the other hand, develop constantly during a man's lifetime. It's just that simple.

Sperm don't go bad because when they get old, they just die and are replaced.

The question is still why?

Why is the biology that way? Is it, as these guys submit, a genetic evolution due to a "use it or lose it" scenario, or is it do to something else?

There are other animals that live indefinitely and breed indefinitely. Why aren't we one of them?

That's why I think it's a fascinating study, if questionable for methods.

[Cats]

Most animals in the wild do not live to their full potential life span either, so it's hard to compare. Even if we just count placental mammals here, some go through a estrous cycle, rather than a menstrual one. If a comparassin is going to be made, it needs to be ones that go through the same methods of reproduction.

In humans, it's not even so much that the EGGS can "go bad", it's also a woman's BODY. Pregnancy is pretty taxing on a woman's, and as she gets older, she gets potentially less and less able to carry a baby to term while keeping the both of them healthy. From where I'm standing, menopause is a GOOD thing (evolutionarily speaking), since it eliminates this risk entirely. Can you imagine a little 80 year old woman who osteroperosis giving birth?


This study baffles me. I'm pretty sure evolution happens pretty much on accident, not developing things as the species needs it (or doesn't). If the mutation is bad, the individuals die and the trait doesn't get passed on. If the mutation is good or doesn't hurt the individual's survival or ability to reproduce, it gets passed on. Like we have no use for an appendix anymore, but since it mostly doesn't hurt us to have one, it was never truely lost to evolution. Same with goosebumps. If we could genetically decide what we didn't need and just get rid of it, then we wouldn't have these 2 things anymore.

Now, men chosing to mate with younger women might be a possibility for why menopause didn't HURT our ability to survive and reproduce. Heck, I'm not even sure non-modern humans even went through such a thing, since they didn't live as long. A change made as an older adult doesn't hurt or help you if you don't live long enough to see it.

[Ginger Tea]

What was the average age of death by natural causes during the roman empire?
We are living well into our 90's and beyond, but for the most part we could find that 40 was considered to be lucky to still be alive before medicine and vaccinations helped boost us through previously fatal diseases.

Why do women become fertile when under the legal age?
Again back to when 40 was old, 13 wasn't a social taboo as it is now, upstairs cat is 9 months old and in heat, I thought that was a bit too young for a cat, but other mammals biology and adulthood are not the same as ours.

Women are born with a set number of eggs or the eggs develop later on during puberty, but it is still a finite number, sperm is regenerated daily, if a man had a finite set of sperm in his testicals, no one would masturbate or the population would have been so small for the whole of civilisation.