Philosophy Now Forum

On average, women are shorter than men, have skin that's softer, have higher-pitched voices, etc.

What's even more striking is that it's harder for humans to differentiate between the sexes of other species; cats, dogs, fish, gorillas e.g. This leads to some questions:

1) How many differences have been identified for Homo Sapiens?

2) Are Homo Sapiens the only species that have so many differences?

3) Is this phenomenon with Homo Sapiens random?

4) Is there an advantage to this?

Anybody ever thought about this?

PhilX

Philosophy Explorer wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 10:56 am On average, women are shorter than men, have skin that's softer, have higher-pitched voices, etc.

You've obviously never met a proper Yorkshire woman.

Have you asked a gorilla if it can tell the difference?

Hmm. I wonder what sex this is.

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:49 am Hmm. I wonder what sex this is.

It's not as obvious as you might think. You would see something very similar to this on any typical girls night out in Barnsley.

Harbal wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:40 am

Philosophy Explorer wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 10:56 am On average, women are shorter than men, have skin that's softer, have higher-pitched voices, etc.

You've obviously never met a proper Yorkshire woman.

I don't believe I ever did Harb. Do you prefer them proper or improper yourself?

PhilX

Philosophy Explorer wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 3:13 pm I don't believe I ever did Harb. Do you prefer them proper or improper yourself?

I prefer them at a distance.

Harbal wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 3:20 pm

Philosophy Explorer wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 3:13 pm I don't believe I ever did Harb. Do you prefer them proper or improper yourself?

I prefer them at a distance.

Once one of these females dance for you you'll be hopelessly hooked

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ ... -in-a-pool

Harbal wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:59 am

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:49 am Hmm. I wonder what sex this is.

It's not as obvious as you might think. You would see something very similar to this on any typical girls night out in Barnsley.

Too funny! If I choke on my coffee we'll know who to blame.

Have to say there's more than a passing resemblance to one of my former partners. I also remember having a date via a dating site because I liked the fact that, in describing his appearance to me, he said he had a face like a smashed crab. He sounded like someone I could relate to - alas, the "diamond" was too rough to warrant further investigation.

Generally, though, women look better than men do, or at least we have fewer outstandingly ugly specimens, but the gap is closing. It seems that men are becoming more beautiful now. It reminds me of Ray Stevens's 1970 hit.

Greta wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 5:01 am
Generally, though, women look better than men do, or at least we have fewer outstandingly ugly specimens, but the gap is closing. It seems that men are becoming more beautiful now. It reminds me of Ray Stevens's 1970 hit.

By 'men becoming more beautiful' does that mean more like women? Is it the waxed eyebrows and too-white teeth? Not a sexy look for a man.
When you look at male gorillas with an objective eye, they are certainly a lot more impressive than human males.

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:12 am

Greta wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 5:01 am
Generally, though, women look better than men do, or at least we have fewer outstandingly ugly specimens, but the gap is closing. It seems that men are becoming more beautiful now. It reminds me of Ray Stevens's 1970 hit.

By 'men becoming more beautiful' does that mean more like women? Is it the waxed eyebrows and too-white teeth?

Nope, it's the more regular features, as opposed to looking like a smashed crab. Also more working out at the gym and drinking less beer.

Greta wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:56 am

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:12 am

Greta wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 5:01 am
Generally, though, women look better than men do, or at least we have fewer outstandingly ugly specimens, but the gap is closing. It seems that men are becoming more beautiful now. It reminds me of Ray Stevens's 1970 hit.

By 'men becoming more beautiful' does that mean more like women? Is it the waxed eyebrows and too-white teeth?

Nope, it's the more regular features, as opposed to looking like a smashed crab. Also more working out at the gym and drinking less beer.

I wonder what kind of studies they are basing that on. I would have thought with all the junk food and over-eating we would be getting uglier, not better looking.

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:38 pm

Greta wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:56 am

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:12 am

By 'men becoming more beautiful' does that mean more like women? Is it the waxed eyebrows and too-white teeth?

Nope, it's the more regular features, as opposed to looking like a smashed crab. Also more working out at the gym and drinking less beer.

I wonder what kind of studies they are basing that on. I would have thought with all the junk food and over-eating we would be getting uglier, not better looking.

Apparently both genders are becoming more attractive. Cultural selection, with hotties being more likely to mate and breed than uglies.

You raise a good point, though, and I think the answer is that the word "we" is increasingly not applicable to all. With increasing inequality, societies everywhere are bifurcating in ways that echo Orwell's and Huxley's future visions. So the Alphas and Betas will become more beautiful and enabled with biodynamic organic foods, gym workouts and mentally stimulating careers while the Deltas and Epsilons become ever more decrepit and disregarded with their diets of cheap junk food and cheap p̶r̶o̶p̶a̶g̶a̶n̶d̶a̶ mainstream media.

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:49 am Hmm. I wonder what sex this is.

I wouldn't attempt to find out if I still want to know what sex I am. Definitely impressive though!

Greta wrote: ↑Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:13 am

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:38 pm

Greta wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:56 am
Nope, it's the more regular features, as opposed to looking like a smashed crab. Also more working out at the gym and drinking less beer.

I wonder what kind of studies they are basing that on. I would have thought with all the junk food and over-eating we would be getting uglier, not better looking.

Apparently both genders are becoming more attractive. Cultural selection, with hotties being more likely to mate and breed than uglies.

You raise a good point, though, and I think the answer is that the word "we" is increasingly not applicable to all. With increasing inequality, societies everywhere are bifurcating in ways that echo Orwell's and Huxley's future visions. So the Alphas and Betas will become more beautiful and enabled with biodynamic organic foods, gym workouts and mentally stimulating careers while the Deltas and Epsilons become ever more decrepit and disregarded with their diets of cheap junk food and cheap p̶r̶o̶p̶a̶g̶a̶n̶d̶a̶ mainstream media.

Well, I'm highly sceptical. Are they judging it on people who have had cosmetic surgery? I found one tacky reference to it and all the people cited had had 'work done'. Sounds like nonsense to me. Attractive women have married ugly men for as long as there has been marriage. They often didn't have a lot of choice on who they married. What are these studies and how were they conducted? We don't even know what the ancient Greeks and Egyptians looked like. If Nefertiti is anything to go by then a lot better than the average Tyson/Makenzee today.
And what the heck is 'alphas and betas'?
I don't know what future archaeologists are going to make of all the bits of plastic. There was some crime documentary where a decomposed body was identified by the serial number on her breast implants.

In Huxley's dystopian novel, Brave New World, the society was ordered by formal ranks, with Alphas the highest and the barely human, genetically-engineered-for-limitations Epsilons the lowest. It's hard to explain. You'd need to read it or a detailed synopsis.