Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Us?

There’s a new article on Psychology Today called ‘Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature’ which should start a few conversations.

There’s a new article on Psychology Today called Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature which should start a few conversations. And end a few marriages.

I won’t comment any further other than to provide you a few excerpts, link to the article and ask you to vote (down at the bottom) on whether you would go along with any, some, all or none of this.

Here are just a few highlights:

Humans are naturally polygamous
The history of western civilization aside, humans are naturally polygamous. Polyandry (a marriage of one woman to many men) is very rare, but polygyny (the marriage of one man to many women) is widely practiced in human societies, even though Judeo-Christian traditions hold that monogamy is the only natural form of marriage. We know that humans have been polygynous throughout most of history because men are taller than women.”

OK, perhaps that’s not radical enough for you. Try this:

Most women benefit from polygyny, while most men benefit from monogamy
Most women benefit from polygyny, while most men benefit from monogamy. When there is resource inequality among men – the case in every human society – most women benefit from polygyny: women can share a wealthy man. Under monogamy, they are stuck with marrying a poorer man.”

Still not getting a headache? OK, try this:

Men sexually harass women because they are not sexist
Abuse, intimidation, and degradation are all part of men’s repertoire of tactics employed in competitive situations. In other words, men are not treating women differently from men – the definition of discrimination, under which sexual harassment legally falls – but the opposite: Men harass women precisely because they are not discriminating between men and women.”

Here’s the whole article. Please come back after you’ve had a look and vote below on how many of these ‘politically incorrect truths’ you would go along with.

Soon it will be the weekend and hopefully you’ll be kicking back with a few friends and shooting the breeze. And, as you pour yourself a glass of wine/litre of vodka/sparkling mineral water (delete as appropriate), settle back to enjoy the company of friends, suddenly a wicked thought will come to mind. Perhaps I’ll mention that piece on politically incorrect truths about human nature…

Good luck.

Author: Jeremy Dean

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology. He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004. He is also the author of the book "Making Habits, Breaking Habits" (Da Capo, 2013) and several ebooks.

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