Sex, Creativity and the purpose of life...

Recently, one of my friends told me about a research study she had read about in some newspaper..She doesn't remember who did it, what the sample was or anything..but she did remember what data it threw up...

According to the study, women don't mind if their husbands sleep around with other women, but they do have a problem if their husband is emotionally attached to another women. For men, the exact opposite applies. They wouldn't mind if their wife is emotionally attached to another man, but they take offence if she sleeps with another man.

Now, I don't know how accurate these results are, and I'm not saying that it HAS to be this way...but the findings are completely in line with what evolutionary theory has to say. According to evolutionary theory, men in the past (past as in prehistoric era) aimed to ensure the survival of their genes in the next generation, by mating with as many women as possible, and by preventing any other man from mating with his woman/women. For a woman on the other had, the priority was resources, which ensured that she was able to take care of herself and her children. So for her, it was more important that her partner remains commited to her at an emotional level, because that ensured continued supply of resources .If the man became emotionally attached to another woman, there is a greater chance that he would abandon her for the other woman, depriving her of the resources she needs. Whether the partner sleeps with other women or not, was of no concern to her as far as she was being taken care of by her man/men. The vestiges of this past behaviour are recorded in our genes, and that is why even today women and men in the study responded the way they did.

Anyway, this got me thinking about what drives our life? Is is simply these genes, that govern our life? And is the purpose of human life just ensuring future life? Sex after all is the by-product of death, a way to remain immortal, through genes.

And what about music, dance, literature, science and all our other creative pursuits? Where and how do they fit into this picture? In animals, songs and dance are used to attract mates. Do they simply serve a similar purpose in humans? Is everything we do driven by a need to pass on our genes to a future generation?


And where do theories such as that of Maslow's fit in? Are the "higher-order" needs a myth? An illusion we use to deceive ourselves? Is there no such thing as "self-actualization" that we can aspire to?


Or was there something I was missing?


As I thought about it, I found that I could name many people who had chosen to live life for some "higher purpose". People who had chosen to walk on the untrodden path. Those who had dedicated themselves completely to some purpose- their work, their passion for some cause..something. And in doing so they had chosen to bypass the usual routes of making a "family" for themselves..not because they could not..but because they chose not to. They were few and far...yet they were there..the exceptions to the evolutionary rule....


What I've also noticed is how these people refer to the products of their efforts as their "babies" or their "children".......


And this has got me thinking on a diffrent line altogether.....The purpose of life.....is immortality. The evolutionary theory is right. We want to live forever.


And we do live forever...either through the genes we pass on to future generations, or through work that has a lasting impact, and thereby guarantees that our name shall live forever.....


I might be entirely and completely wrong of course....someday maybe I shall know for sure.....


Till then, the purpose of my life..is to be immortal.....