Through meiosis, the process that underlies sexual reproduction, the gametes must form in their respective bodies, then the member of the male sex must transfer their gamete into the female body.
These gametes must fuse, and for a time period that is usually nine months, a human baby is, hopefully, formed from that single fusion of two gametes.
It is a beautiful thing, surely, but with so much that could go wrong, one wonders: what benefits does this form of reproduction confer?
Enter the microevolutionary Red Queen hypothesis, proposed by UC Berkeley biologist Graham Bell. This model suggests that sex has evolved to give us a fighting chance against parasites.
Hostile parasites evolve quite rapidly, and so human evolution’s response to this is the production of offspring that, generation by generation, possesses more and more favorable genes that can outcompete or outsmart parasites.
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Attraction exists for this reason — we are biologically predisposed to value specific traits in an individual, such as strength, energy and good health, that indicate the possession of good, successful genes.
Pleasure also exists for this reason — if sex was not pleasurable, what motive would there be to pass on genes? Where can there be human progress if there is no self-gratification?
