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Old 6th November 2012, 09:26 AM   #31
Skeptic Ginger
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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Originally Posted by joesixpack View Post
This is entirely speculation on my part, but I'm sure you'd agree that cultural mores emerge from objective conditions. The idea of "honor" and "good family name" generally have economic (i.e., material) implications. Even in societies with no monetary system, there are still rules that dictate who has preferential access to resources (a pecking order).
I don't agree there is a direct survival/better life advantage. That concept of evolution has been modified a bit with our larger body of knowledge.

Assuming one can apply the rules of biological evolution to cultural evolution, some things are selected that have a neutral advantage and even some traits with a negative selection pressure can be amplified by other circumstances. So, for example, a rich king might have children that survive to reproduce because the king has better resources and is more socially isolated (thus less exposure to contagious pathogens), but the same king might have more inbred offspring.

Who knows how such a horrid culture evolved. There is evidence equal rights for women actually results in an economically better off culture. The fact such oppressive cultures are failing now compared to Western cultures where women have more equality suggests it is not economically advantageous to murder your daughters.
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