tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770861767173688889.post6629068475250527129..comments2023-04-26T00:55:44.495-07:00Comments on Fantastic Worlds: Generational Social Variance in Future Histories: Sexual Mores of the American MandateJordan179http://www.blogger.com/profile/04175992431854812417noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770861767173688889.post-80030673024615884652011-09-20T08:56:45.551-07:002011-09-20T08:56:45.551-07:00Actually, Bob, I agree with you on this. My littl...Actually, Bob, I agree with you on this. My little chart represents only one dimension of sexual mores <i>within the American Mandate</i>, and is intended merely to demonstrate the method and serve me as a springboard for more complex sociological speculation. Especially starting in the late 23rd century (when Outie populations grow large and sufficiently long-term resident on their worlds) there is extensive cultural divergence in every aspect of society.<br /><br />I like your example of how to apply this to individual characters, by the way. I have considered running my Mandate Solar System as a SF RPG campaign but am currently not in touch with people who find hard SF adventures interesting. Though the Mandate is only (heh-heh) <i>semi</i>-hard, because there is psionic and time travel stuff going on secretly in the background.Jordan179https://www.blogger.com/profile/04175992431854812417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770861767173688889.post-78649305121225543242011-09-19T18:38:32.579-07:002011-09-19T18:38:32.579-07:00This is kind of interesting but not really sure if...This is kind of interesting but not really sure if it serves any purpose. Sexual mores are effected by so many factors and each societal grouping would have differences that would make ones head spin. If plotting out a story or character description I could see the use of having why certain things are a strong part of it's personality. <br />I.e. Sandoz being a NewMan, one of the genengineered beings from a city on Saturn's ring, has both male and female sexual characteristics. Sandoz looks like a tall underfed female child (insert hair, eye, skin colors etc). Sandoz's upbringing was somewhat sheltered and doesn't normally consider non NewMan attractive and has a Restrained view of sexual relations.Sectorbobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13847162161293272504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770861767173688889.post-29900188549326593722011-09-01T02:25:49.919-07:002011-09-01T02:25:49.919-07:00I think it was Michael Schirmer that most prominen...I think it was Michael Schirmer that most prominently observed that the popular conception of evolution (both biological and cultural) is of a deterministic river that will always flow slowly in one direction toward an ultimate end. Since we were hairy apes with small brains that grew less hairy with bigger brains, Schirmer (I think it was) wrote that so much forgotten science fiction depicted future man as completely bald geniuses with heads so big that all of us will be born via a Caesarian operation. <br /><br />But of course natural selection is not a deterministic river taking us anywhere. It's about adapting to environment. We may think more smarts will always be our mode of adapting, but it may not always be the case. Pol Pot, after all, aimed to cleanse Cambodia of anyone suspected of being intelligent, leaving only those thought to be suited for the primitive agrarian communism he considered most pure. Who knows what else may weed out intelligence in the future? <br /><br />Culture, likewise, isn't necessarily heading in any direction. If anyone can draw a straight line from Byzantine chants to contemporary pop music, I'm not really seeing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770861767173688889.post-43826966189421841182011-08-10T07:56:49.957-07:002011-08-10T07:56:49.957-07:00Addendum: As far as I know, the first person to m...Addendum: As far as I know, the first person to make your point, Mary, was Elaine Morgan in <i>The Descent of Woman</i>. She pointed out that, if people who no longer wanted to reproduce no longer reproduced, this would select for the desire to reproduce. While she didn't conclude that this would lead to greater sexual restraint, the implication that this would lead to at least a recovery of the link between sex and marriage (because single parents have trouble supporting children) could easily be seen. Note that when she made that point, almost all the experts were expecting the Sexual Revolution to last <i>forever</i>: hence all the Free Love Futures.Jordan179https://www.blogger.com/profile/04175992431854812417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770861767173688889.post-84906736617679515342011-08-10T07:25:28.854-07:002011-08-10T07:25:28.854-07:00Mary, I agree with you regarding the tendency of c...Mary, I <i>agree</i> with you regarding the tendency of contraception to in the long run <i>increase</i> the evolutionary success of "dad and coy" over "cad and easy" reproductive strategies, even though in the short run it erodes sexual morals. This, coupled with the tendency of the sexually hedonistic in the later eras to disappear into erotic-fantasy "berlds" (virtual reality subworlds) is one of the main reasons why I didn't just write a Free Love Future.<br /><br />The countervailing tendency, of course, is that at-will contraception (by the mid-22nd century you can literally toggle fertility on and off at will) and the widespread availability of virtual and artificial-person-provided sexual experience allows hedonists to be even more hedonistic than would be personally-practical today. The tension between the two keeps customs changing over time.Jordan179https://www.blogger.com/profile/04175992431854812417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770861767173688889.post-61520762090770662312011-08-10T04:31:49.316-07:002011-08-10T04:31:49.316-07:00This is a problem with alternate history too.
I t...This is a problem with alternate history too.<br /><br />I think your sexual mores suffers a little from the problem of contraception, which will change the future. It produces differential fertility by attitude -- and it favors the more restrained views. Well, not invariably, but that's the tendency.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com