Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT: 2236-40 (23-27 July 2012) Weekly Comic Discussion Thread
LTK:
--- Quote from: Boomslang on 27 Jul 2012, 23:12 ---
--- Quote from: Somebody on 27 Jul 2012, 22:34 ---That doesn't explain why mammals aren't hermaphrodites, with all members capable of both impregnating and *being* impregnated!
--- End quote ---
No, but the fact that our lineage is predominantly non-hermaphroditic explains that very easily. It's still possible for hermaphroditism to appear as a mutation, but unless that mutation is also compatible with existing reproduction of the species, it will die off that generation. And beyond that, it would only become dominant if it was positively affecting the survival of the species- I went into why that isn't necessarily the case earlier on in the post you quoted.
Humans, especially, would be negatively affected by being hermaphrodites. Tribal societies use various methods to decrease the amount of children they have so that they don't outstrip their resources. The maximum number of children you can raise to adulthood is far fewer than the maximum number that can be born even with half the tribe not producing them. Furthermore, unlike most animals, pregnant humans are less able to hunt, travel large distances, outrun predators, or fight those predators or another tribe, in addition to the high possibility of dying in childbirth. If mammals were hermaphroditic by default, it would be hard to see how humanity as we know it could have ever come about. It's already kind of shocking we made it to the tool-using phase as things are.
--- End quote ---
Unfortunately, that logic is completely backwards! If you want to answer the question why humans aren't hermaphrodites, then of course you can come up with many, many problems that would arise if early mammals became hermaphroditic at some point during the last few million years, because we never evolved that way! The split between sexual dimorphism and hermaphrodism was never present in mammals, for that you'd have to look at vertebrates in general. The clownfish is a vertebrate that's a sequential hermaphrodite.
So the better question is, why didn't mammals evolve to be hermaphroditic in the first place? I think the easiest explanation is that specialized sexes are better able to fulfill their role in reproduction than hermaphrodites, which are trying to do both at the same time. Apparently, the advantage gained by specializing your reproductive organs to one task is bigger than the disadvantage of only having half of all individuals capable of producing children, among other advantages and disadvantages.
HiFranc:
--- Quote from: chickabiddybex on 27 Jul 2012, 06:44 ---You get a donor sperm cell, take out its DNA, replace it with DNA of woman A and put the altered sperm into woman B's egg.
You then get child AB!
--- End quote ---
And has either been proposed properly or already done. I remember listening to discussion about that very technology. I'm looking for the link now.
{edit} I was wrong:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9421000/9421816.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16627043
jwhouk:
Oh gee, something we haven't done for a while: What was the MOMENT OF THE WEEK?
I've seen you check out her ass. Hey, be fair! I check out TONS of asses! 4 (13.8%)
Tai called and said she's sleeping in, librarians don't get in for 2 hrs. and I don't have keys. 1 (3.4%)
Do your pigtails detach? Do you store roll cake in your arms? 2 (6.9%)
If you like anime that much, I should introduce you to my friend Marigold. 1 (3.4%)
Um, what's "anime?" 1 (3.4%)
Your hair is differ- HUMIDITY 1 (3.4%)
Duct Tape! (I bet you wanna get all up in TAI'S business) 4 (13.8%)
So... What do you think? ... you know me better than anybody else. 2 (6.9%)
If you're just considering it because she's shown interest in you, that's not really fair to her. 1 (3.4%)
BUT think how cute your babies would be! (We're both female, we can't -) WE ARE WORKING ON THAT TECHNOLOGY 12 (41.4%)
Total Members Voted: 29
Rose:
Hi, I don't post here often (ever) but the situation in Friday's comic was kind of off-putting for me. I think by now, as an audience, we've accepted the fact that there is no tension between Dora and Marten, but my question is why. They had that one scene at the Tai's party where they sort of hashed things out, but it seemed so artificial at the time. Now Marten is playing big brother to Dora, giving her girl advice and playfully prodding her about new advances from other people?
I think that there are a couple of reasons why they might be at this stage of relationship by now, but there's something not so right about it. In the timeline of the comic, it doesn't feel like more than a few months have passed, if more have passed then maybe it makes more sense. What I can only guess would be probable is if by the time the two of them had broken up they had already moved on emotionally, because there's absolutely no tension between them. Their breakup was so chaotic that I'm no so sure about this explanation. I also considered that the two of them are overcompensating for their history by being overly chummy, but if that were the case I think it would be more obvious.
I don't get it. It's like they've completely forgotten about the last.. year? How long were they together anyway? I feel as though I am forced to suspend my beliefs in order to accept the way that they act towards each other. Thoughts?
Tai and Dora would make cute babies though!
Silentbanksy:
--- Quote from: Rose on 28 Jul 2012, 09:28 ---Hi, I don't post here often (ever) but the situation in Friday's comic was kind of off-putting for me. I think by now, as an audience, we've accepted the fact that there is no tension between Dora and Marten, but my question is why. They had that one scene at the Tai's party where they sort of hashed things out, but it seemed so artificial at the time. Now Marten is playing big brother to Dora, giving her girl advice and playfully prodding her about new advances from other people?
I think that there are a couple of reasons why they might be at this stage of relationship by now, but there's something not so right about it. In the timeline of the comic, it doesn't feel like more than a few months have passed, if more have passed then maybe it makes more sense. What I can only guess would be probable is if by the time the two of them had broken up they had already moved on emotionally, because there's absolutely no tension between them. Their breakup was so chaotic that I'm no so sure about this explanation. I also considered that the two of them are overcompensating for their history by being overly chummy, but if that were the case I think it would be more obvious.
I don't get it. It's like they've completely forgotten about the last.. year? How long were they together anyway? I feel as though I am forced to suspend my beliefs in order to accept the way that they act towards each other. Thoughts?
Tai and Dora would make cute babies though!
--- End quote ---
I think the point is that they're both doing their best to move on, and have at least experimented with relationships since break up, with Padma and Jim. (Jim? I think it's Jim, sorry, I forget). But especially if you look at how Dora is in this last comic, when she asks Marten for advice she's actually protecting herself, she knows she's vulnerable and is taking a step out there. I think that it's established this is new territory for the both of them, and they're both trying to move on and be mature about the whole thing.
Ew, babies.
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