You are human in a technological megacity.
You are a baby
You, a baby, cry because you feel like it.
There used to exist babies — in previous generations — who did not cry.
These babies died
when their needs weren't met
because people forgot about these babies existing.
The parents in the city have an urge to address crying babies because their parents did.
Your parents or single mother address your needs as you grow up.
Suppose you are a woman
You are now a woman of child-bearing age who is ovulating.
You do not decide to
- have an increased urge to have sex [1].
- find all men hotter, and exponentially for your sexual "type" [2].
- direct more visual attention towards men you find attractive [3].
- experience increased self-esteem and self-perceived sexual desirability [4], energy, and a more creative personality [5].
- experience physical changes such as peaked facial skin redness (blushing) [6].
However, these subconscious actions occur without your awareness.
You can speculate these traits (of the menstrual cycle) exist because humans with these traits reproduced more than "humans" lacking these traits.
Suppose a man approaches you via a digital interface and engages in sexual intercourse with you.
There is a small chance you know this man from your marriage, which is an economic contract [7]. You do not need marriage because the megacity's corporate structures grant you financial autonomy independent of a male partner.
You selected this man from a digital catalog displaying thousands of local males. However, your choice is constrained by algorithmic sorting mechanisms that filter options based on physical optimization metrics, height, and hyper-visible status indicators.
You might moan during sex because
- You feel like it.
- This behavioral trait is inherited from a prior generation of humans' which implies that there is a reason to moan or a lack thereof (which effects reproduction potential) [8].
- This behavioral trait might be inherited from an environment where the behavior was evolutionary advantageous, but now the vestigial behavior has no evolutionary advantage or disadvantage [9].
The man orgasms before you do. Then, he exits your body.
Suppose you have not been satisfied and continue to have sex.
You address this lack of satisfaction with the man who provides you with post-coital intimacy until you are satisfied.
There is a much higher chance you were not in a relationship with this man prior to sexual intercourse.
You do not find a private place to engage in a secretive sexual encounter to protect your social stability, as the megacity has decoupled your sexual behavior from social stigma.
You have sex with this man despite the lack of relationship with him because you felt sexually attracted to him [10].
Suppose you have not been satisfied yet.
- You might continue to have sex with this man by waiting for his refractory period to clear. You achieve an orgasm 40% of the time during these encounters (compared to 75% in a committed relationship) [11].
- You might feel sudden frustration, mood swings, or localized disappointment if he leaves before you want him to [12]. You do not feel like contacting this man again if you can't separate sex from emotional intimacy, and you will feel like he is unreliable for a relationship [13].
- You might end the interaction upon his exit. You clean yourself and exit the situation.
Suppose you have a primary partner or husband who is not this man.
- You might initiate sexual contact with your primary partner or husband later.
- This subconscious action fails to create paternity confusion. For a nominal fee, the husband can utilize a genetic sequencing kit to establish 99.99% absolute statistical certainty [14]. The historical-genetic rates of undetected extra-pair paternity drop toward 0% in environments with commercial DNA testing [14].
- You might not initiate sexual contact with your primary partner or husband later.
You are educated in school
- Sperm can live up to 5 days inside your cervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes awaiting ovulation [15, 16].
- The first sperm to your egg is not the winner [17].
- Your egg has influence or choice over which sperm is accepted [17, 18].
You know who your child's biological father is when his paternity is verified directly through biotechnology [14].
Your primary partner or addresses your needs
- as you are pregnant.
- as you birth the child.
- as you raise the child.
You address the needs of
- yourself.
- then, your children.
- then, your primary partner.
- then, your city (via taxes).
Suppose you are a man
You are a mature man who has a sexual urge.
You do not decide to
- increase flow of blood to your penis.
- increase the size of your testicles.
- increase your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate.
- lubricate your urethra with fluid (colloquially called "pre-cum").
However, these subconscious actions occur without your awareness.
You can speculate these traits exist because humans with these traits reproduced more than "humans" lacking these traits.
Suppose you attempt to approach a woman to engage in sexual intercourse with her.
You might penetrate her in a thrusting motion because
1) You feel like it.
2) This behavioral trait is inherited from a prior generation of humans' which implies that there is a reason to thrust or a lack thereof (which effects reproduction potential).
a) a theory exists which asserts "a man's penis shape is designed to pull out other men's sperm and assist in sperm competition." \[18\]
b) a more-recent theory contradicts (a) by asserting "a man's penis shape is designed to perform a protective parting squeeze which secures the semen in the woman upon the man's withdrawal." \[19\]
You orgasm and enter the male refractory period.
- Your penis reduces blood flow (colloquially called "becoming soft").
- Your penis reduces blood flow and becomes hypersensitive to touch, while post-orgasm hormones eliminate your sexual urge. So, you exit her body.
You are not aware how many other men have had sex with the woman. However, you do not need to know because you verify your paternity directly through biotechnology [14].
Suppose you do not approach a physical woman due to algorithmic exclusion or choice isolation.
You access an electronic screen displaying high-definition digital streams of other humans engaging in sexual acts.
- Your primitive neurological pathways cannot distinguish between a physical female in your immediate environment and the pixels emitting from the screen.
- You orgasm in physical isolation. Your sexual urge is eliminated without any reproductive potential.
You address the needs of
- yourself.
- then, your digitally verified children.
- then, their caretakers (via agreement or legal mandate).
- then, your megacity (via automated transaction and income taxes).
Sources Used
[1] Arslan, R. C., Schilling, K. M., Gerlach, T. M., & Penke, L. (2018). Using 26,000 diary entries to show ovulatory changes in sexual desire and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://mpg.de
[2] Stern, J., Gerlach, T. M., & Penke, L. (2020). "Probing Ovulatory-Cycle Shifts in Women's Preferences for Men's Behaviors". Psychological Science. 31 (4): 424–436. doi:10.1177/0956797619882022. PMID 32130075. https://sagepub.com
[3] Anderson, U. S., Perea, E. F., Becker, D. V., Ackerman, J. M., Shapiro, J. R., Neuberg, S. L., & Kenrick, D. T. (2011). I only have eyes for you: Ovulation redirects attention (but not memory) to attractive men. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. https://nih.gov
[4] Arslan, R. C., et al. (2023). Women feel more attractive before ovulation: Evidence from a large-scale online diary study. Evolutionary Human Sciences. https://nih.gov
[5] Galasinska, K., & Szymkow, A. (2022). Enhanced Originality of Ideas in Women During Ovulation. Frontiers in Psychology. https://frontiersin.org
[6] Burriss, R. P., et al. (2015). Changes in women's facial skin color over the ovulatory cycle are not detectable by the human visual system. PLOS ONE / University of Cambridge. https://cam.ac.uk
[7] Bowles, S. (2011). Cultivation, coevolution, and the emergence of property rights. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://pnas.org
[8] Brewer, G., & Hendrie, C. A. (2011). Evidence to Suggest that Copulatory Vocalizations in Women Are Not Reflexive Responses to Orgasm. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(3), 559–564. https://springer.com
[9] Schacht, R., & Kramer, K. L. (2019). Are We Monogamous? A Review of the Evolution of Pair-Bonding in Humans and Its Contemporary Variation Cross-Culturally. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7, 230. https://frontiersin.org
[10] Gangestad, S. W., & Thornhill, R. (1997). The evolutionary psychology of extrapair copulations: The role of symmetry and physical attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 18(3), 169–188. https://ehbonline.org
[11] Armstrong, E. A., England, P., & Fogarty, A. C. K. (2012). Accounting for riffraff: Orgasm inequities in heterosexual hookups and relationships. Social Problems, 59(4), 435–462. https://oup.com
[12] Maczkowiak, J., & Ribeiro, F. S. (2020). Postcoital Symptoms in a Convenience Sample of Men and Women. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 46(5), 415–424. https://nih.gov
[13] Provencal, N., et al. (2019). Women's Orgasm and Sexual Satisfaction in Committed Sex and Casual Sex: Relationship Between Sociosexuality and Sexual Outcomes. The Journal of Sex Research, 57(7), 817–826. https://tandfonline.org
[14] Larmuseau, M. H. D., van den Berg, P., Claerhout, S., et al. (2019). A Historical-Genetic Reconstruction of Human Extra-Pair Paternity. Current Biology, 29(23), 4102–4107. https://doi.org
[15] Mayo Clinic. (2026). Sperm: How long do they live after ejaculation? Mayo Clinic Expert Answers. https://mayoclinic.org
[16] Indira IVF. (2026). How Many Days Does a Sperm Live in a Female's Body? Conception & Timing Guide. https://indiraivf.com
[17] Fitzpatrick, J. L., et al. (2020). Chemical signals from eggs facilitate cryptic female choice in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1928), 20200805. https://royalsocietypublishing.org
[18] Goetz, A. T., & Shackelford, T. K. (2006). Sexual coercion, ejaculate characteristics, and semen displacement tactics. Semen displacement as a sperm competition strategy.
[19] Klug, M., et al. (2023). Morphological and physiological assessments of the human glans penis and alternative evolutionary hypotheses. An Evolutionary Advantage of the Human Glans Penis.