Fisherian runaway: Difference between revisions

<span id="zyzz"></span>[[File:41097916_1692099977584652_3713126534517620736_n.jpg|thumb|right|Zyzz popular sex icon. He died young of sudden cardiac arrest from too much [[steroid]] use to make himself look hyper-masculine. He was not a [[reproductive success]]. Muscularity may partly be a sexually selected [[sexual dimorphism]].]]

'''Fisherian runaway''' is a model of how [[sexual selection]] can lead to exaggerated physical or behavioral traits (ornament) and exaggerated preferences for these traits.<ref>Fisher RA. 1915. ''The evolution of sexual preference.'' Eugenics Review. 7:184–192. [[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=Eugenics+Review&title=The+evolution+of+sexual+preference&author=RA+Fisher&volume=7&publication_year=1915&pages=184-192&pmid=21259607& Google Scholar]]</ref><ref>Huk T, Winkel WG. 2008. ''Testing the sexy son hypothesis—a research framework for empirical approaches.'' Behavioral Ecology. 19:456–461.[[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=Behavioral+Ecology&amp;title=Testing+the+sexy+son+hypothesis—a+research+framework+for+empirical+approaches&amp;author=T+Huk&amp;author=WG+Winkel&amp;volume=19&amp;publication_year=2008&amp;pages=456-461 Google Scholar]]</ref>

Fisherian runaway is a popular meme in the [[manosphere]] used to argue women's mate choices may be [[maladaptiveness|maladaptive]], resulting in excessive emphasis on superficial [[courtship]] and selecting exaggerated [[asshole|anti-social]] traits that incite male competition. Fisherian runaway is often misunderstood to refer to exaggeration as a lifestyle choice, but it actually refers to an ''evolutionary'' process over many generations. However, sexual preferences evolved this way can motivate extreme body modifications like breast/penis enlargement, hormone supplements, bodybuilding and plastic surgery.

[[File:Peacock courting peahen.jpg|alt=|thumb|"The females may be dull looking, but they're very picky." A peacock courting a peahen]]

=== Positive feedback ===

Since females are [[Bateman's principle|more choosy]] in many species throughout the animal kingdom (including humans), the males tend to be more ornamented.

In industrialized nations, facial masculinity is unrelated to mating and [[reproductive success]] (RS). Strength and muscularity are also only weak, but consistent predictors of RS.<ref>https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.06.980896v3</ref>

Women's hourglass shaped waist is not linked to higher RS or better health.<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6563790/</ref> Unless there are strong confounds in industrial nations (such as high [[mutational load]] and low ecological harshness), the absence of a link to RS means these traits are unlikely sexually selected. Men's V-shaped upper body, especially determined by the collar bone length, may be subject to sexual selection as it is [[sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]], linked to RS and women's attractiveness ratings. At the same time, a long collar bone actually decreases chances of survival, resulting in decreased strength and throwing ability (see [[body attractiveness]]). However, adaptations that merely fake physical strength may also have evolved as a means of physical intimidation during male [[intrasexual competition]]. See the [[penis]] article for a discussion of the plausibility of sexual selection having acted upon it.

=== Behavior ===

Evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller suggested strong positive-feedback processes in sexual selection to have given rise to higher [[IQ|human cognition]] and behavior, which he regards as too advanced and exaggerated for the necessities of human survival.<ref name="mm">https://ontherapyaspse.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/geoffrey-miller-the-mating-mind.pdf</ref> Indeed, intelligence itself is sexually attractive with the most attractive IQ score being 120, far above average intelligence.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321640585</ref> In some mating contexts, male courtship consists in eliciting super stimuli in women's brains by cognitive performances such as poetry, dancing, art and humor.<ref name="mm"></ref> However, the overall evidence suggests such behavior and intelligence evolved through through [[intrasexual competition|intrasexual]] and inter-group competition and survival selection rather than sexual selection. Men with a [[dark triad|dark personality]] do have higher reproductive success and at least some women are sexually attracted to such men (see [[#Maladaptiveness|below]]), which may be a potential trait that has been sexually selected and/or that is under sexual selection, and possibly, runaway selection.

== Female mate choice==

=== Sexy son hypothesis ===

The ''sexy son hypothesis'' was proposed by Weatherhead & Robertson in 1979 and considers the consequence of runaway selection for female mate choice.<ref>Weatherhead PJ, Robertson RJ. 1979. ''Offspring quality and the polygyny threshold: 'the sexy son hypothesis''' The American Naturalist. Volume 113. Issue = 2. Pages 201–208 [[https://doi.org/10.1086/283379 Abstract]]</ref>

It simply states that the positive feedback loop can make women so attracted to a man's ornament that women will readily choose a "sexy man" regardless of other considerations such as his morality or paternal investment, because the man's ornament—which is partly heritable—will confer the same reproductive advantage on their male offspring. The male offspring will hence also be "sexy" to other women, making up for any other flaws on part of their father.<ref>https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/19/2/456/214088</ref> This is particularly staggering in women, otherwise [[libido|coy]], engaging in casual sex with men way above their league (i.e. getting [[pump and dump|pumped and dumped]]), then resulting in [[single mother]]s and the [[betabuxx]] phenomenon.