Blog Post #5

In this chapter, I have learned many interesting things. First, I learned that identical twins not only share the same genes, they also share the same uterus. I never really thought about this before. When I think of twins, I just think of two people looking the same. I didn’t know that there are so much more than just similar looks that go into being a twin. Although identical twins have the same genes, they don’t have the same number of copies of those genes always.

Fraternal twins aren’t identical. They come from the same fertilized eggs but they are generally no more the same than regular brothers or sisters. I thought it was very interesting to learn that some health related problems could occur in the same twin. There is a more likely chance of an identical twin to get the same health problem, such as Alzheimer’s disease, than it is in fraternal twins. The same goes for a fraternal twin getting a divorce. The odds of the other twin getting a divorce is 1.6 times when having an identical twin get a divorce, there is a greater chance of 5.5 times the other twin getting a divorce. This surprises me because I wouldn’t think genetics has anything related to divorce.

In the video, Evolutionary Psychology and Sexual Attitudes, I learned that women look for men who can be good providers and men look for women who can be good home makers. This changes in cultures where women are more equal to men. Each sex looks for similar qualities in each other.

In the video, Natural Selection and Evolutionary Psychology, I learned the body is a machine designed to preserve the existence of its genes. Animals evolved and those genes that were successful in keeping the animal alive thrived. Humans tend to not focus on gene survival like animals do. They waste more time on unnecessary activities. However, their brains are bigger compared to animals so that one gene trait held strong.