Divine Collaboration

From English 194 Wiki Site

By Dan Hawley
14:33, 1 June 2006 (PDT)

Abstract

Everybody does it. You may have done it already. Collaboration. It is happening all around us; birds, kangaroos, hippopotami, giraffes, antelopes and in the recent past, even human beings have taken part in it. If you haven’t done it yet, you will most likely do it soon. What form of collaboration is so simple that it unifies almost all higher level organisms on earth? The answer is simple. The answer is Sex.

Description

Sex is the most important form of collaboration. We literally can’t survive without it.

Analysis and Description

As defined by Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary, sex is “the sum of the structural, functional, and behavioral characteristics of living things that are involved in reproduction by two interacting parents and that distinguish males and females" (Dictionary.com).

But the more fascinating thing to notice is that all higher level organisms that distinguish between male and female, participate in the collaborative effort of sexual intercourse to reach a unifying goal. The orgasm. The orgasm is an attainable sensation to most all human beings, mammals, and higher level organisms. At the base level, this pleasurable sensation is the purpose of sexual intercourse.

There is a higher purpose for sexual intercourse, however, and even higher level purposes for the superfluous sex of humans. To understand the reasons behind human sexual intercourse, one must understand basic theories of evolution and the biological path of humans through time.

In the beginning, there were atoms. Atoms form together to become elements, which form together to become compounds. Compounds then begin to form together into particles that all act in a uniform way. These particles come together to form cells, which become defined as the first living organisms. Because there are currently 118 elements (28 of which are man made), there is a nearly limitless amount of ways they can combine, and therefore a nearly limitless amount of different organisms that possibly occurred at some point or another (Periodic Table). The organisms that survive are the ones that are most compatible with their environment, and are strong enough to fend off attacks from that environment. This is commonly known as The Darwinian Theory of Natural Selection.

For billions of years, all that earth could boast were these single celled organisms, with no higher order cognitive brain functions. These single celled organisms would produce asexually, by splitting in two.

In an asexual organism, where no collaboration occurs in the reproductive process, mutations tend to happen once for every 2000 reproductions. This is true in the case of stomach bacteria, and is one of the highest rates of mutation among asexual species. Of these mutations that occur every 2000 reproductions, many are for the worse, and the mutated organism dies out. But in the event of a successful mutation, whereby the organism can exist equally well or better in it’s environment when compared to it’s predecessors; a new strain of DNA begins to reproduce, and eventually will mutate and evolve in the same cycle. (Matt Greer Interview)

Somewhere along the evolutionary line, creatures began to produce sexually, as opposed to asexually. “The evolution of sex is a major puzzle in modern evolutionary biology. The first fossilized evidence of sexually reproducing organisms is from eukaryotes of the Stenian period, about 1.2 to 1 billion years before the present time” (Wikipedia). Eventually, enough mutations occurred to give rise to the ape, which ultimately evolved into homo sapien, or the modern human.

From this biological point of view, we can extract multiple purposes for human sexual intercourse. First, it is effective. If it did not occur, the human species would die out, and be replaced by other species that were reproducing.

Secondly, sexual reproduction explains the variety of different species. When collaboration occurs during the reproductive process, the genes, and DNA of an entity are not merely copied, but combined in each reproduction. While there are still possibilities of mutation in sexually reproducing species, these mutations are no longer relied upon to cause evolution. As a result of the collaboration of DNA during a sexual reproductive process, a different strand of DNA occurs with every reproduction. Because of sexual reproduction, there has been a huge boom in evolution in the last billion years, which has given rise to millions of different species, most importantly human beings.

Third, sexual reproduction allows the human species to be diverse because it allows each mutation to be recycled and permutated over and over again. Every trait possessed by a living human being is either a combination of the genes of the parents, or a selection of one of the two, usually the dominant over the submissive gene. Collaboration allows for diversity.

Human beings are an important link in the chain of evolution. Human beings embody a unique characteristic that is only shared by two other species on the planet. This characteristic can be seen as the next evolution of sex, and the other two species that share in this evolution are Bonobos and Dolphins. Human beings, Bonobos and Dolphins are all known for having sex for fun. “Humans, bonobos and dolphins are all intelligent social animals, whose cooperative behavior proves far more successful than that of any individual alone. In these animals, the use of sex has evolved beyond reproduction to serve additional social functions. It may be that sex reinforces intimate social bonds between individuals to form larger social structures. The resulting cooperation encourages collective tasks that promote the survival of each member of the group” (Wikipedia).

In the case of earlier uncivilized human beings, these “collective tasks” were purely tasks aimed at the collective survival of a group. But is sex only used for the survival of uncivilized groups of human beings?

Each organized religion has it’s own views on sex, reproduction, and how it should be used. In the Jewish faith, sex is not viewed as shameful, sinful or obscene. It is “not a necessary evil that exists for the sole purpose of procreation” (Judaism 101: Kosher Sex). By Jewish faith, the number one purpose that sex serves is to reinforce the bonds of marriage. Jewish law does state, however, that sex should only be enjoyed between loving married partners. There are also two other underlying reasons for these rules. If sex only happens between loving married partners, in theory, no adultery occurs. As a result, everyone in the community will get along and no one will be killed in revenge. In addition, if a child is raised by loving parents, the child has a better chance of survival in his physical and social environment. Catholic views on sex are very similar.

Catholics believe that sex should be used to strengthen a marriage, and should only occur between married partners, but that each sexual act should occur with the intent to procreate. The reasons sited by most Catholics for this belief is that to have superfluous sex is to tamper with the will of God. It is not mentioned by Catholics, but incidentally, this point of view, if followed will lead to a rapid increase in the Catholic population, thus increasing their power and chance of group survival in society.

Mormonism is another evolution of religion, and has taken the next step in controlling sex. Mormonism stays true to the original teachings of the bible in that only married partners may delve into the pleasures of sex, but plural marriages, or polygamy was regularly practiced at first. “The Church adopted the practice in 1852 when Orson Pratt, under the direction of Brigham Young (president of the Church at the time), publicly announced that the Church was practicing plural marriage under commandment of God,” (Wikipedia). Eventually this practice was outlawed by other sects of society.

In conclusion, for humans, sex occurs for the cut and dry reasons of reproduction and gene distribution, but also for fun. This new evolution of sex has led to the survival of the human race, the dominance over our environment, and a distribution of power amongst the social groups that comprise our civilization.