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Ice in veins

Posted by R. Berg on July 15, 2001

In Reply to: There's ice in his/her veins posted by R. Berg on July 15, 2001

: : Someone just suggested something interesting to me. They said there is an evolutionary biological explanation to the phrase "there's ice in her veins". They reasoned that if a long blood line of people have mated, prooducing offspring, just because of sheer physical attraction, they would in the end produce extremely goodlooking people who might not have any other positive qualities.What do you think of that?! Think of hundreds of generations.

: : mortimer

: I agree with that person's theoretical take on inheritance, but I don't believe most people in history have selected their mates by looks alone. Anyway, what's the connection to ice in one's veins? (Emotional) coldness seems like a mostly nurture, not nature, thing.

And an afterthought: If coldness is hereditary, it would tend to be selected out in evolution because uncaring people make undesirable partners, so they'd have a low reproductive rate, and they don't take care of their offspring, so the kids would have a low survival rate. Your friend's argument could be valid for species with other mate-selection criteria and instantly self-sufficient young. For instance, evolution could produce a line of beautiful but indifferent fish.

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