[bearbait]

^ Whether or not men have an instinct to "spread their seed" is arguable. If a man (whether today or 1000 years ago) has sex with 50 women but leaves them to fend for theirselves (and may or may not get them all pregnant), and another man has sex with one or two women (and gets them pregnant multiple times) but provides for them and protects the babies, who has the better chance of having offspring that will survive to childbearing age? It's hard to say, it would depend on many factors, but my point is that spreading your seed around will not necessarily mean continuing the species at a better rate.

Some animals have the speading their seed mentality, and some have the mate for life mentality. Primate babies are helpless for a lot longer than most animals, and therefore, need protection and help. It really makes more sense for a human to mate for life than to just love 'em and leave 'em, as their offspring will have a much better chance of surviving well and reproducing.


To address the looks vs personality debate - really, it is a combination of the two that will make the best partnerships. You need your partner to be someone who you find attractive - not necessarily the most beautiful person in the world, but not someone who isn't able to get your hormones going either. And of course you have to like that person's personality, or how else are you going to be able to get along? You don't have to agree with them on everything (indeed, those kind of relationships may not work either - remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry found a girl just like him?) Yeah, everyone has some flaws, but part of a relationship is accepting those flaws and working with them.

Edit - I also agree with those who like the looks of the 3-day beard, but not the, er, scratchiness!