Another thread on marriage : Is marriage obsolete?

[thir]

That's like the strongest kid on the playground claiming he's the best because he's the most successful. Humans MAY be more successful than our cousins, evolutionarily speaking, but the evidence is unclear and the issue is still in doubt. Remember, modern humans have only been around for about 10,000 years, give or take. Dinosaurs were at the apex of evolution for hundreds of millions of years, yet they are gone. For all we know humanity may be nothing more than a backwater mistake in evolution which will shortly be eliminated from the equations. Just because we're the biggest and baddest on the playground does not make us the endpoint of evolution.

Well, we are so smart and succesful that we are in the process of destrying everything we are supposed to live on, as well as breeding like rats and waging now very dangerous wars on each other. We may be the endpoint of our evolution.

But as for endpoint as such, it is in the system that there isn't one. Things keep changing, life keeps adapting, or vanishing.

Overall, some interesting notes here about primate mating practices, but they are, after all, just that: mating strategies. They say nothing about the institution of marriage, which is a uniquely human condition. True, marriage generally includes mating practices, and even procreation, but neither of these is legally required for a marriage to be valid. Religious groups will disagree about this, of course, but legally (in the US, at least) there is no requirement for the married couple to engage in sexual activities or to have children. It's expected, of course, but not required.

Earlier on, one could not reasonably seperate the two. Marriage in whatever forms was, I think, a way to survive and making more people - at least as long as the nuclear family has been here. It is loosing that function and becoming something else, but what? That is what I wonder.