10 Things You Do That You Didn't Know Ruin Your Life

7. Monogamy

Like going to the gym and not eating meat, monogamy is another example of humans taking liberties with their survival instincts. In fact, we might not even be as monogamous as we like to think. When we say monogamy, we usually mean "only dating people one at a time", but actually, truly monogamous species in the animal kingdom will only mate with one other individual and will not find another partner, even if their first one dies. Geese do this, most humans don't, neither do 97% of mammals. Even by our slightly dodgy definitions of monogamy, it's still only a really recent invention. Men generally have only been monogamous for the last 100 years or so, as it has become gradually less acceptable for them to have extra marital affairs, either with prostitutes or lovers. It is generally thought that monogamy developed for the well-being of offspring, but that doesn't mean that it's the only way to do it. There are actually a great many polygamous and polyamorous cultures around the world. They generally feature single males with multiple females, but there are some that break even this rule. These arrangements take a much more communal approach to child-rearing and show that it is possible to tango with more than two. Don't get me wrong, just because monogamy is a social construct doesn't mean that it's wrong. Breakfast, art and not-murdering-people are also a social constructs and they're going okay.