Also all the males who risk everything in order to mate, especially those with harem style arrangements. I remember a documentary where many thousands of winged insects (can't remember which) have this huge breeding frenzy that's so intense that many females are swamped to the point of crushing and at the end the field is lettered with male corpses; every male died.Dalek Prime wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 3:12 amThat's actually something I never thought of. Very observant. Yeah, I'm guilty of it too. But more as a giggle than anything serious. Though, I can think of a lot worse ways to go than my heart giving out during an otherwise exciting experience. Maybe my brain would confuse my impending doom for the best time of my life? Who knows...Greta wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 3:02 amReally? Men fantasise about that? I suppose better that than fantasising about killing someone else.Dalek Prime wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 2:43 am
Trust me. You didn't miss much. It was more about men's fantasies of dying during sex. Personally, I am not keen on the process, but yeah, the end result won't bother me, I'm sure.
Still, in the animal kingdom the males of many species die during or just after sex. They basically turn themselves into Kamakaze sperm bombs. So perhaps this is an instinctive throwback to an arachnoid form of consciousness?
A more unusual fate met the famous "exploding toads" where the males were noticed to be exploding messily some time after mating. Crows had found out that the toads' livers were not toxic so, while the toad boys are hopping on the good foot and doing the bad thing, the crows sneak down and steak the guys' livers. This apparently does not impact on the toads' performance, an effort that can only be described as "Chuck Norris". Afterwards, sadly, their lungs expand into the cavity left by the pilfered liver and the poor blighters explode. Another toad that will never get to meet his tadpoles and guide them in the ways of toadhood. Tragic.
Then there is that auto-asphyxiation thing I only learned about after Michael Hutchence's death. Talk about anhedonia - the guy was starring on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans, had access to the best drugs and whatever sex he fancied, a luxury homes, travel, the best recording studios - and none of that got him high enough, so he has to choke himself to ecstasy. My understanding is that he hit his head (or was it punched?) and afterwards he was never the same, tending towards recklessness and depression.
So sex and death for males can be pretty closely aligned on a number of levels.
It should be said that females in nature tend to outlive their uselessness after egg childbirth, so it's only a stay of execution. As you'd know, it's not rare for spider mothers to provide her own body to help her hungry newborn spiderlings on their way. Overall I think it's damn good to be a human being!