What’s your opinion on sex, love, and infidelity? Your answer can vary wildly depending on where you live, how you’ve been raised, and your social circles. The bedroom has always been off-limits in polite discussions, but this time we’re challenging you to deep-dive into the issue with us.
In this episode, Alexander McCaig sits down with David Buss, who is considered one of the founders of evolutionary psychology. The pair have a comprehensive discussion on what it means to be monogamous, the evolution of sexual psychology, and the institutions we’ve built that enshrine our shared perspective of what a perfect relationship should be.
One theory David Buss discusses in this episode is that sexual violence against women happens because we do not understand our desires. David Buss explains that women and men have different sexual psychologies.
It’s certainly a controversial opinion—but one David Buss is firm on defending.
For example, the amount of time you let elapse before seeking sex, or the emotionl investment required before seeking sex—these are differences that recur over time and differ largely between the two sexes.
In this case, men eventually evolve and adapt to influence or manipulate women, and women do the same thing. It’s a co-evolutionary arms race.
How effective are our cultural institutions in defending values we consider important to a healthy monogamous relationship? For example, it is illegal to marry two people in the United States—and yet, infidelity rates are high. According to Alfred Kinsey, an estimated 50% of infidelity rates are committed by males, while 26% are committed by females.
This indicates that people do engage in what David Buss calls, “serial mating.”
There are many ways to understand how we institutionalize or normalize our evolved psychology. One way is to look at the cultural institutions that reflect it. Another is that because mating is inherently a competitive process, mates are always in short supply.
This can be observed in countries where there are vast differences in male-female population. When a society has more men than women, violence committed by men and rape rates tend to go up. And according to David Buss, it’s also a place where polygamous culture can be a problem.. For example, cultures here one man can have four wives creates a large pool of young males who do not have sexual access to females. As a result, these repressed feelings become bottled up and explode in sexual violence.
This doesn’t just happen out of a desire for sexual variety, but also for things that David Buss calls “mate value discrepancies.” If one person pursues another who is significantly more attractive than him, they will get angry when their attempts are unsuccessful. But even if the pursuit is a success, the mate value discrepancy means that she has opportunities to trade him up for someone better. As a result, she is more likely to leave him or be sexually unfaithful. This can also hold true if the man is deemed as more attractive than the woman.
If you are alive today, you are an evolutionary success story. And one interesting point about our species is our mating system, which calls for a long-term commitment. This arrangement only occurs in about three to five percent of mammalian species.
David Buss theorizes that due to the tremendous amount of commitment that goes into starting a family, males have evolved sexual jealousy. This is otherwise known as male sexual proprietariness, coined by Margo Wilson and Martin Daly. This jealousy machinery is designed to keep partners faithful and to ward off rivals.
With this in mind, David Buss believes that his book can be valuable for women because it outlines predictors of when they might be in a dangerous situation as a result of male sexual jealousy. Verbal insults, isolation, and obsessively monitoring her time are statistical predictors that a man will engage in physical violence. This, in turn, can also be a form of sexual violence, because it curtails her ability to choose when, where, and with whom she has sex.
Pretending that the two sexes are identical just continues to perpetuate sexual violence. Understanding how our mindset and psychology has evolved with regards to sex helps us put our desires into perspective. When we have a better grasp of how it affects us, we can help promote safe relationships, particularly for women, and continue to respect their capacity to choose.
Sexual violence against women is at the core of the issue. It also takes on more forms than we think. Deception on internet dating, conflict within relationships, stalking in the aftermath of a messy break-up, intimate partner violence, financial infidelity, sexual infidelity, revenge porn…all of these occurrences, David Buss argues, is united when the partner seeks to bypass female choice. This also happens to be the first law of mating.
While we should celebrate how we are products of a large and complex ancestral system, we also need to acknowledge the problems in sexual psychology that may have made our existence possible in the first place. We owe it to ourselves, to our children, and to future generations.
Sexual double standards go beyond the sexes. It’s not just about whether it’s “more justifiable” for men to cheat than women. David Buss believes that one exists between the self versus the partner as well.
For example, he poses this interesting thought experiment, where the audience is invited to put themselves in the shoes of a married man: would it be okay if I were sexually attracted to my neighbor’s wife? What about if my wife is attracted to the neighbor’s husband?
“We engage in a lot of moral hypocrisy in the sexual domain, where the morals that we espouse publicly are those, often, for other people to follow, and we don't always follow them ourselves,” David Buss explained.
Alexander McCaig calls for listeners of this episode to reflect on whether they’re experiencing a psychological imbalance. If you’ve condemned someone for having multiple sexual partners, but believe that you yourself have good reason to, then it may be a sign for you to reassess how you think about sexuality.
People need a natural understanding that attraction is well within the bounds of our biology. However, it does not necessarily mean that this attraction warrants jealousy. After all, one interesting aspect of relationships is that even in happy ones, men and women still have the capacity to find other people sexually attractive.
The dramatic proliferation of online dating and digital pornography is presenting a new challenge to our sexual psychology.
Previously, we would only ever have access to a few dozen potential mates in our entire lifetime. Now, we can leaf through thousands or millions of options through internet dating sites and applications. In addition, technologies like virtual sex, sex dolls, and sex toys are becoming increasingly realistic.
Even here, the differences in our sexual psychology is evident. For example, pornography differs depending on whether it is meant to be viewed by a male or female audience.
“With males, for example, it's multiple partners, it's no context, no emotional involvement. It's basically, woman comes into the room, sex starts happening right away. Whereas women's pornography, there's more context, plot, emotional involvement, psychological investment, and so forth,” David Buss explained.
Alexander McCaig raises the concern that the dopamine hit created by pornography can make it difficult for people to see how these interactions and relationships are built with hard work and effort in the real world.
Due to the convenience, people are spending more time on online pornography. This means that sexual relationships have declined in real life, and marriage rates as well. What do these trends point towards, and is it something we should celebrate?
Changes in the way we love, bond, and attach to people take one set of mechanisms. Changes in desire for sexual variety and sexual psychology as a whole are an entirely different set. It’s time we open up to our partners and to ourselves about how we truly feel. Let’s break free from living a proverbial life of quiet desperation.
We owe it to ourselves and to our loved ones to be more open about such a human part of ourselves.
What’s your data worth? Sign up and earn through the TARTLE Marketplace here.
Can bad ideas spread like a virus? Are we susceptible to making the wrong decisions? What separates us from the radicalists that terrorize society today?
As it turns out, not much.
Today’s guest, Andy Norman, takes us through a comprehensive introduction on cognitive immunology. This is an emerging science of the mind that looks into how people start sliding down the slippery slope to fake news, misinformation, and disinformation in today’s post-truth society.
According to Andy Norman, the average flat earther is extremely gullible in certain respects but also hypercritical in others.
Their train of thought begins with this vague idea that the world may truly be flat and that everybody else is just intentionally misinterpreting the truth. Since not everyone is educated to fact-check and test ideas in the right way, they start going down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos and conspiracy websites.
They become increasingly intrigued by the feeling that they’re in on this big secret. As a result, they start isolating themselves in echo chambers of their own making. Soon they have an airtight community of fellow believers who believe in the same sentiments they do—and we are the ones looking in.
These people have hardly done due diligence and they are feeding off of incredibly unreliable information. In this sense, the mind has become “infected” with bad ideas, and these ideas spread like parasites.
If we want humanity to evolve for the better, we need to strengthen our immune systems so that we are not vulnerable to these parasites. While it will eventually call for systemic change to address how our perspectives are largely shaped by the way we grew up, we can only kickstart this on a personal level.
To better equip humanity against all the fake news and misinformation, Andy Norman suggests bringing back the Socratic Method. This is a method of learning which focuses on a dialogue between teachers and students, furthered by the teacher continually asking probing questions.
The constant questioning is an effort to explore the underlying beliefs that shape the student’s views and opinions. In many ways, this is a good technique to engage in dialogue with others who do not have the same mindset as you do. Today, there are so many different world views and perspectives.
Amidst this, it may become difficult to reach out to one another because we are afraid of coming across as offensive, insensitive, or dismissive. Conversely, it may also be difficult for people to reach out when we start considering our ideas as a part of who we are.
Our ideas of how to view the world should be fluid, and held only within the boundaries of reason. It is when we convince ourselves that we need to defend ideas to an absolute value that we turn into radicalists, which exist on both sides of all spectrums: politically, religiously, and socially.
It’s important to hold your ideas at a distance. Yes, the feeling of being a part of a community can be all-encompassing. Knowing that you are affirmed by others who hold the same ideas can be empowering. But if this is taken too far, it will only serve to isolate you from others.
We can only move forward when we move forward together. The alternative is to accept that we are not our ideas. Our ideas will reach limits, and we must part with them then. We should only entertain ideas within certain bounds while holding true to our values.
Hold your beliefs loosely. Be ready to part when someone raises a sufficiently good reason, an opportunity to question: is it worth still believing in this idea if it means that holding onto it isolates me from humanity?
Here at TARTLE, we are invested in the evolution of humanity. The next step forward will take data-driven measures at reaching the truth in a post-truth era. With that said, we need to look out for each other and hold ourselves accountable for our ideas.
Ask questions. Help your loved ones reach conclusions. Keep an open mind and be slow to take offense. A line of inquiry is not a personal attack, but an attempt at getting to the bottom of the ideas you hold about yourself, the society, and the world.
What’s your data worth? Sign up for the TARTLE Marketplace through the link here.
TCAST gives people a platform where they can learn more about what’s going on with data in our world. It’s a call to hold ourselves accountable over our information and use it to solve the world’s most pressing problems.
As TARTLE’s CEO, Alexander McCaig, puts it: “We want to speak about the entire narrative of human existence and how forever into the future will be written by data.”
Alexander McCaig speaks several times a week on pertinent global issues, reiterating how the TARTLE marketplace is a part of the solution. We are constantly communicating and always transparent about the direction and vision of our company.
Our episodes aren’t a constant call to subscribe to our channels and opt into the platform for the sake of hopping on to the latest, newest trends. We launched TCAST so that we could give a constant reminder of TARTLE’s mission, vision, principles, and direction.
TCAST is dedicated to constantly broadcasting the full truth. We don’t leave room for misinterpretation. Everybody on both sides gets the full picture.
Our team members at TCAST understand that their work here goes beyond just getting compensated for their efforts. They are a part of a worldwide mission to speak the truth and empower individuals through data-driven initiatives. They are putting in the work to create a global family through TARTLE.
Our long-term plans only focus on what can benefit our immediate circle. All our lives, we’ve been conditioned to think that we only ever have an impact on the ones around us. But TARTLE wants to expand our circle of influence to include the rest of the world.
There are definitely barriers to opportunities for connection. This could be geolocation, personal perspectives, and knowledge of how the system works. The TCAST hopes to reduce these barriers by raising awareness on what the marketplace can do. It strives to provide a narrative of what has happened with data, backed by data. No advertisements or pesky side-trips while you listen. All we want to do is expose the truth and give people the opportunity to learn about it in their own time.
Working for TCAST is an act of service. We’re not doing this to rise above the rest of humanity, but to rise with humanity as a collective. If we can help people find the strength to take control of their data and channel it to the causes they support, then our work has already succeeded.
What’s your data worth? Sign up for the TARTLE Marketplace through the link here.
Welcome to TARTLE! As cheesy as it sounds, we want to walk you through our mission and vision. Don’t worry, this won’t take long. We can condense why we do what we do into three main principles:
Data sharing is an important part of human progress. Today, our personal data is being maximized by other entities for activities that do not necessarily benefit us. It’s time to reclaim our data and empower ourselves.
Everybody has the potential to become data champions. Your work with TARTLE is your first step. Your next step will be using your work to give others the opportunity to become data champions as well.
Regardless of who we are or where we come from, we deserve full transparency. When people are open and willing to share their experiences, we unlock the potential to evolve as a collective.
Under the present system, we find ourselves shoehorned into data silos. We are in the dark about what happens with our data and the benefits that can be derived from it. Complete and total knowledge means there is no gap between what we know about data and what we do with our data.
Our data is a record of our authentic human experience. It holds our knowledge, habits, choices, health, and much more. When this information stops being hoarded for the profit or the advantage of corporations and governments, we make the internet a place everyone can be a part of.
The internet is a tool we should use to come together and solve global problems beyond borders.
Have you ever been to a concert? You enter as an individual, but when the beat drops you become part of the crowd. Everybody is on a high when the music starts.
That’s the kind of empowerment we believe comes from owning our data. We hold the key to solving the most pressing problems of humanity. We only need to know that we are not alone in our struggle.
Here at TARTLE, you’re not just doing work for the sake of work. We are a team of people who want to help humanity. It’s a grand ambition, but we are confident that we can make a tangible difference.
Throughout history, entire movements took decades of work to create, shape, and ground their principles in reality. We ask you to join TARTLE and think of your work as a part of a bigger picture. You are taking small steps that help propel our mission and vision forward.
Does technology make you feel human?
As we continue to evolve in technology and capabilities, we wonder if we remain at the focal point of progress. After all, these are tools that were designed to alleviate our quality of life. If we aren’t doing it for humanity, then why are we doing it at all?
Here at TARTLE, our job is to remind people about the purpose of technology. We are dedicated to creating tools that will bring people back to the forefront of evolution.
Jinba Ittai is a Japanese word that represents the unity of the horse and their rider. This was an important relationship that archers needed to foster so that they could perform effectively in battle.
In a similar manner, data is the vehicle and the ‘creature’ you need to learn to tame. We already respect and understand the impact of technology on us. But we need to take control of how technology is carving out our future.
This balance can only be achieved when we accept that responsibility on an individual basis. It’s not something we can pass off to multinational corporations or governments.
They cannot accurately represent our unique skill set and preferences. They don’t have the same ideas to contribute. Here at TARTLE, we are all capable of creating something new with data using technology that is readily available to us.
Alexander McCaig likened our work here to that of the Sherpa. These are members of a Tibetan people who live on the high southern slopes of the Himalayas, known for providing support to foreign trekkers and mountain climbers.
They are people who have an intimate understanding of the mountain. They’ve dedicated their lives to helping people walk their path.
Working for TARTLE is making that same commitment to helping people walk their path. The platform is the technology and the tool people need to take the next step forward in data evolution. It’s their opportunity to take control of their data.
Choosing to work for TARTLE means that you are one of the earliest supporters of our system. You’re helping us carve out a path to the top of the mountain.
We aren’t the ones in the limelight. Our goal is to help others trek through a treacherous online landscape. We are responsible for opening people’s eyes to the reality that tech companies benefit more from us than we do for them.
The TARTLE philosophy is to turn that around and bring humanity back to the spotlight.
What’s your data worth? Sign up for the TARTLE Marketplace through the link here.
Hey, welcome aboard! We’re excited to see how we can help humanity take the next step forward with you.
We chose to continue the TARTLE journey with you because you’ve given us major data champion vibes.
I mean—yeah, you’re great at what you do and we think you’d be a good fit to our growing team. But when we scout for new people, we’re also looking for something more. And that’s a desire to contribute to something more than just the day to day hustle. We want people who want to make a tangible change in this world.
If you’ve listened to the podcast, you’ll hear our CEO, Alexander McCaig, say that you need to look at us “outside the realm of just economics.” You’re not just a steady supply of talent to satisfy our demand. We’re all about changing the way people live and work, and this starts with the people in our team.
Regardless of your position on TARTLE, you’ll be working on a variety of exciting projects across several of our Big 7 themes. Your job will involve data-driven analytics and modern technologies. It could be crafting digital infrastructures, creating human connections online, or data-diving.
All throughout, you will eventually reach out to millions of humans around the world. We’re using the digital sphere to connect your talent to all sorts of people—those in underdeveloped communities, marginalized sectors, and niche industries. This is how we are helping human evolution.
Because if we don’t grow together, we won’t grow at all.
Did you know that the biggest social media platforms earn from your online habits? Have you ever stopped to think about whether you should earn from it too? Because you definitely should. In fact—you deserve to earn 100 percent of what you put out online.
The TARTLE platform is a data marketplace that directly connects nonprofit buyers across the Big 7 to their target audience. Sellers from 222 countries have the freedom to fill out and put up as little or as many data packets as they like.
You won’t find a marketplace like this anywhere else.
All those apps you use on your smartphone don’t give you the opportunity to earn from your thoughts and human experiences. Let’s face it, your online history creates an incredibly detailed picture of you as a person. It’s your turn to sell your data, and to decide who you want to sell it to as well.
You could continue doing things the way they're done. Scroll through your feed, search for things online, like and react to posts, and more. But this continues to feed big tech companies, who will only ever use your hard work to pursue their own goals.
This time, why not choose to sell your data on the TARTLE Marketplace?
Technology does not lie at the center of our goal. We’re not using technology and upgrading it for technology’s sake. Everything we do here is with human progress in mind.
We’re going directly against the status quo of big tech companies. It’s time to put YOU at the center of the online experience. When you’re working for us, that’s what we want you to have in mind. We are working on the user experience and the alleviation of the user’s human experience in itself.
We know you’ve got tons of work to do, so we won’t take too long. Here’s the TLDR of this article:
Why work with TARTLE?
Because we know what your data’s worth.
And it’s time to bring humanity back to the forefront of evolution.
The bigger your dreams and ambitions, the tougher your setbacks and critics. Those who have followed the podcast or invested in the TARTLE platform since the start know that the marketplace is a product of years of hard work, research, funding, and more.
It’s the brainchild of a group of people who want to use modern technologies for a noble goal: the evolution of humanity.
In a world where we are becoming increasingly isolated from each other and individualistic in our movements, TARTLE is an opportunity to reconnect to the common thread that holds us together through the digital medium.
Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby take the opportunity to take the internet trolls head-on and discuss: is the marketplace scamming us?
Without wasting any time, Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby jumped straight into the heart of the issue: some users may not have realized that to earn from the platform, time and effort is involved.
Yes, the TARTLE marketplace aims to make data champions out of today’s netizens. But as netizens, you also have a responsibility to put in the work so that you can earn. The minute you register and connect your Paypal to your account, you can start filling out the data packets immediately.
We don’t offer a get-rich-quick scheme for people looking to make easy money. Taking back control of our data is difficult. It does not just call for us to put in the physical work, but the mental work of changing our perspective as well.
The power to earn comes with the responsibility to fill out data packets, put them up for sale, research on causes that we identify with, and wait for buyers from these causes to pick up the packets that have been filled out.
It’s an opportunity for important causes to retrieve data directly from the source, and compensate you for your hard work as well.
TARTLE hopes to become a platform that fosters data champions. The simple act of filling out a data packet is one step forward in empowering yourself to become more accountable and responsible over your data.
At every step, you have full control over the opportunities given to you. Once you sign up, you choose the data packets you want to fill out. Once that’s over, you can sell it to companies or causes that are dear to you.
It sounds simple because we’ve worked on making the platform as intuitive as possible. But being completely responsible for your data is a heady, empowering feeling. Imagine all the time and effort you put in Facebook, Twitter or Instagram is converted into payment and valuable data for the companies, organizations, and causes that you believe in.
That’s what TARTLE can do for you.
Technology is becoming increasingly complex, efficient, and all-encompassing. It’s evolving and we need to evolve alongside it as well. The question is, how involved are we in the progress of modern machinery? If we look at the entire process of logging onto the internet and interacting with our favorite websites and applications, do we still derive some benefit from our work at the end?
Everybody deserves to be compensated for putting plenty of time and effort into a certain endeavor. When it comes to the internet, we deserve to be compensated for crafting a unique user identity. We currently live in a world where big tech corporations take our data and profit on it themselves. Doesn’t that sound more like a scam than the work done on the TARTLE platform?
Don’t let the comfort of modern living distract you from asking:
What’s your data worth?
