Re: Gender importance (was Future Relationships)

Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
22 Apr 1999 20:09:39 +0200

James Rogers <jamesr@best.com> writes:

> Moving humans to a single gender for both sexes could have a long-term
> impact on the survivability of the species. After all, every aspect of
> both genders is extremely useful under some circumstance. Having two
> genders allows a species to embody multiple conflicting characteristics,
> which appears to be a strategy to maximize adaptability; to a certain
> extent, differences between cultures would seem to be a manifestion of a
> selection process among the large number of characteristics found across
> both genders.

So why not go for *more* genders instead? That would increase adaptability even more. For example, asexuals, androgynes, hermaphrodites and easy gender switching might be a good start. What about a gender that combined (say) the traditional ambition and doer mentality of males with the traditional social side of women (sounds like great politicians and administrators), or a gender with a different ego-structure? Over time I guess humanity may differentiate to the degree that it becomes silly to speak about genders, everybody is unique (some standards about the plumbing may remain for compatibility, but as a character in Varley's _Ophiuchi Hotline_ said: "don't worry, I've got an adapter!").

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Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
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