We Live in a World of Males and Females — Here Is Why
Sexual reproduction is a superpower, the reason why is mind-blowing
Why do men and women exist when we could just be asexual i.e. be men and women both at the same time?
The answer is extremely complex, but to put it simply, asexual reproduction can only produce clones, and clones cannot swiftly evolve or adapt to an ever-changing environment, only sexually reproducing species can.
But the question is, why?
Only sexually reproducing species can create genetic diversity, but why?
Everyone knows that children are a merger of their parents' genetics. However, what is not well known is that, even though children are mergers of their parents’ genetics, they are not exact mergers.
To explain, a father gives either an X or a Y chromosome to a child, and every child he has will get the same X or Y chromosome from him. That means fathers give the exact same chromosomes to every child they have, so every son will get the same Y chromosome and every daughter the same X chromosome.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be some variation due to the XY crossover effect which can see a father’s Y chromosome influence the X chromosome he gives to a daughter, along with the X chromosome influencing the Y chromosome he gives to a son, there are also genetic defects that create variation, then there is the epigenetics factor, but in principle and practice, they will be near enough the same.
However, with mothers it’s different, mothers give a lot of one X chromosome and a little bit of the other to their children, and the split will be different in each child. This means every X chromosome a mother gives to a child is made up of different mixtures of her two X chromosomes, and is as such unlike any X chromosome any child has ever had ever before or ever will have again — bar the one time a son passes on the X chromosome given to him by his mother to a daughter.
What this means is outside of identical twins, thanks to our mothers, every single person on earth is genetically speaking completely and entirely unique, with the odds of there being two people alike so high it is pretty much never going to happen.
This is massively important for creating rapid evolution because it creates a super diverse population, which increases the probability that there will be enough people who have the right genetics to survive and thrive in the present environment — whatever the conditions are.
Yep, mothers are amazing. But they can only make us all one-of-a-kind super diverse people because our fathers also exist. That means fathers are also amazing. To explain why, asexual reproduction creates de facto clones, and not just because there are no males and females to mix and match with, for another reason as well.
To understand it, imagine an asexual species rather than using the male way of passing on genetics i.e. of passing on near enough the exact same chromosomes to each of their offspring, instead using the female way — so mixing and matching chromosomes willy-nilly so that every offspring born is unique.
If this happened, the results would be catastrophic mainly because there would be no way to prove which were the best genetics to mix and match, as such, the species would swiftly die out due to a lack of sexual selection.
Yep, when it comes to diversity, sexual selection is important. Really important. That’s why there are no asexual species that reproduce by mixing and matching chromosomes, non-means tested genetic diversity is a disaster.
Means-tested genetic diversity on the other hand is genius, especially if you have a chromosome that is tried and tested and add it to the chromosome that is new — which is what humans do.
Yep, that means males provide security by providing a proven chromosome, which the females will have selected as the best available to them, and the females provide diversity by providing an untried and untested chromosome, which can be mixed with the proven one.
This combination — which provides the perfect mixture of genetic security and experimental diversity, so it creates stable diversity — allows the human race to evolve at a rapid rate.
Oh, and if you didn’t realise what that means, when it comes to genetics, males are the guarantors, and females are the innovators, which means every child born is a male-backed female invention. You could even say that when it comes to seeding children, women are the mavericks and the Picassos and men are the health and safety crew, though as a man, I’m going to choose not to say that… Instead, I’m going to yell my seed is a Picasso I tell you…
Awkward, I know…
To finish up, what this means is asexual reproduction cannot create a form of stable diversity, which is needed for any species to be able to evolve at a fast enough rate to survive in an unstable environment, but sexual reproduction can, as such, inevitably, because most environments are unstable, the majority of the species on this planet produce through sexual reproduction.
That means if you want to understand why the world is filled with males and females and not asexual species, it is because the world is a fast-changing place, and in a fast-changing place, only a species of males and females can keep up.
Yep, that means men and women would never be able to survive without each other, even if they found a way to produce children asexually. That means, for better or worse, men and women need each other, and for a lot more than just sperm and eggs.
Crazy world, I know.
That’s all from me, thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, you may also enjoy the following:
15 Fascinating Anatomical Differences between Men and Women That You Probably Didn’t Know
The Top 10 Reasons Why the Modern World Is Ruining Everyone’s Mental Health
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