Recently
I’ve been thinking a lot about biology and how it relates to human affairs. I
think there’s a tendency among humans to believe that we are somehow special,
unique in the animal kingdom, and perhaps in some ways we are. But there’s no
doubt in my mind that however complex our brains, our bodies must still operate
via the same mechanisms as those of the “lesser” animals – with chemical
reactions, nerve signals, and so on. And the more I learn about what’s
transpiring in the world of science, the more I suspect that psychology, as it
is currently understood, no longer offers the best explanation for human
behavior. Or, rather, that a person’s psychological makeup is not derived in
any spiritual or subconscious way by the inner workings of the mysterious
concept that we call “mind,” but by biological forces operating outside the
level of our consciousness. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I
suspect that human affairs are more biological than we give them credit for,
and this study I read on Science Daily
seems to me a case in point.
The
scientists found that juvenile mice secrete a pheromone in their tears that
drastically reduces the sexual behavior of adult mice towards them, a
“protective” shield, if you will, against mating activity from full-grown
males. There are obvious reasons why, biologically speaking, it would be foolish
for adult mice to try to mate with prepubescent mice, even supposing that mice
are not subject to the same social strictures as humans.
But
that got me to thinking. Clearly humans don’t have the same olfactory systems
as mice. They do, however, have similarly well-founded biological objections to
adult-juvenile pairings. Isn’t it therefore logical to suppose that people also
have some as-yet-undiscovered mechanism that precludes adults from desiring
intercourse with children? And if this is the case, wouldn’t it also be logical
to propose that pedophiles, rather than being victims of psychological
unbalance or damage, might instead be genetically defective – unable to
perceive the signals that make the rest of us sick to our stomachs at the very
thought of what gives them pleasure? And if this were true, is it even possible
that pedophilia might turn out to be a treatable condition after all?
Of
course, there’s a huge difference between people and mice. The study concludes
that the pheromone makes it possible for the mice to discriminate in favor of
full-grown partners. It doesn’t, however, offer any evidence that, in the
absence of the pheromone, the mice will actually prefer juveniles, which I
believe is what most human pedophiles do. For humans, therefore, it can’t
simply be a matter of not receiving the “hands-off” signal when it comes to
children. Is there another force at work here that we simply don’t understand?
A chemical signal, perhaps, that the young exude and that is sexually irresistible
to adults who are susceptible to it? It’s not so far-fetched. Look at new-baby
smell – it’s clearly one of the many “cuteness” factors that make people want
to take care of the little buggers. And think of how different the world could
be if there were no sexual predators; if it were possible to simply shut off
whatever triggers that lust within them. This, to me, would be an avenue worthy
of scientific exploration.
Human
sexuality is incredibly complex. And, as we’re learning more and more, so is
the sexuality of other animals. People are into all kinds of crazy sexual
behaviors that seem to have nothing to do with reproduction. But maybe that
isn’t the case at all. Maybe we, as humans, simply haven’t yet figured out the
“why” of those things we call pleasurable; maybe, at bottom, there’s some
biological sense to them after all.
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