Nikki > Status Update

Whereas gorillas, horses, and animals of many other species always form harems, among human beings polygyny and polyandry seem to be optional opportunistic exceptions; monogamy is the rule. Human beings almost never have to be cajoled into pairing. Instead we do this naturally. We flirt. We feel infatuation. We fall in love. We marry. And the vast majority of us marry only one person at a time.

...widespread permissibility of harem building, it can be explained by a simple principle of nature: polygyny has tremendous genetic payoffs for men.

But fidelity is not central to this scientific definitions either. They add, "By 'essentially exclusive' we imply that occasional covert matings outside the pair bond (ie, 'cheating') do not negate the existence of monogamy.

Hence monogamy does not imply fidelity. The Oxford English Dictionary defines monogamy as "the condition, the rule or custom of being married to only one person at a time." This does not suggest that partners are sexually faithful to one another.

partners in the attachment stage of love trigger the production of endorphins in each other, giving each the sense of safety, stability, tranquility.

...once you see your sweetheart regularly the passion typically lasts two to three years.

Lovers who see each other irregularly, because f some barrier like and ocean or a wedding ring from another person, can sometimes sustain that smitten feeling for several years.

Alas, infatuation fades. As Emerson put it, "Love is the strongest in pursuit, friendship in possession."

No wonder lovers can stay awake all night talking and caressing. No wonder they become so absentminded, so giddy, so optimistic, so gregarious, so full of life. Naturally occurring amphetamines have pooled in the emotional centers of their brains; they are high on natural "speed."

W.H. Auden likened sexual craving to "an intolerable neural itch." H.L. Mencken described it differently, saying, "To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia."