Monogamy, polygamy, polyamory: which is natural?
Rui Diogo |
TEDxPorto
• April 2022
Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at The Howard University College of Medicine and at The George Washington University, tells us that maybe it's time we forget a bunch of what we've learnt or assumed about sex, sexual relationship, tendencies and bodily desires. There's a good hypothesis that many of our ideas are rather based in pseudoscience - various taboos and prejudices, or implausible stories - than any real comprehension of facts, such as those that come from scientific observation. Summoning the latest discoveries on evolutionary biology, neurobiology, physiology and anthropology, he's shared what empirical investigation has to say about sexuality and human behavior. He shares the origins of our wrongful ideas about sex, looking at how the imposition of monogamy, religious teachings and how the writings of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud have specially distorted our comprehension of feminine sexuality. He's described how social norms originated from preconceptions have affected our capacity to enjoy sex and affect our natural physiologic tendencies. Finally, he makes an analyses of what empirical investigation can tell us about themes such as monogamy, polygamy, polyamory and open relationships, homosexuality and a series of other sexual preferences and behaviors. Amongst the main questions he talks about: Which one naturally holds more potential for sexual pleasure - men or women?