Quantitative sex ratio, psychological and social differences between the sexes, etc. The theory was proposed in 1965 by Doctor of Biological Sciences (geneticist) Vigen Geodakyan.

As V. Geodokyan notes, with the transition of man from predominantly biological to predominantly social evolution the pace of development has increased sharply. But having received an unprecedented opportunity to change the environment, a person is forced to change himself. Thus, a feedback system arises between man and the environment, which accelerates evolution. The application of the evolutionary theory of sex, in the opinion of its author, should be fruitful in a comprehensive study of man, primarily in solving social problems(Geodakyan, 1994).

Belonging to the same species, Homo sapiens, determines the unity of male and female within the biological world. However, the presence of reproductive anatomical and physiological differences between men and women gives grounds for biodeterminists to say that each sex has its own biogram, acts as a carrier of a specific genetic code, and therefore has its own biological role, which determines whole line social.

Change and conservation are the main opposing parameters of the idea of ​​evolution. Both the environment and the person himself are evolving. However, the environment is always larger than individual biological systems. Therefore, it is changes in the surrounding world that determine and dictate human development. If destructive information comes from the environment (epidemics, cold, heat, predators), the system must maintain an informational distance from the environment in order to maintain its own stability and resilience. But the world at the same time acts as a source useful information, which orients a person, indicates how he needs to change in order to survive and satisfy his own needs. In this case, the system must be in close proximity to the environment.

According to the evolutionary theory of gender by V. Geodakyan, the division into male and female sex, namely into the conservative and operational components of human biological system, acts as a solution to the conflict of simultaneous changes and preservation of the necessary information. The scientist notes that if we distinguish two flows of information: generative (transfer of genetic information from generation to generation, from the past to the future) and ecological (transfer of information from the environment, from the present to the future) - then you can easily see that the two sexes are involved in different ways in them. In the process of the evolution of sex, at different stages and levels of organization, a whole series of mechanisms appeared that consistently ensured a closer connection of the female sex with the generative (conservative) flow, and the male sex with the ecological (operational) flow. Thus, the male sex, compared to the female sex, has a high frequency of mutations, less additivity of inheritance of parental characteristics, a narrow reaction norm, higher aggressiveness and curiosity, a more active search principle, risky behavior and other qualities that “bring closer to the environment.” All of the listed characteristics purposefully bring the male sex to the forefront of evolution and provide him with preferential receipt of environmental information. In addition, long periods of pregnancy, high mortality during childbirth, feeding and caring for offspring in women actually increase the effective concentration of males in society, turning the male sex into “surplus”, therefore, “cheap”, “experimental”, and the female - into scarce and more valuable.

As a result, the law of natural selection takes on different accents. It operates mainly at the expense of the male sex, since it is more risky active, “excessive” and “cheap”. Thus, the population of men decreases, however, the tendency to allow them to fully reproduce the next generations and transmit to them the necessary genetic information, which represents the state of the environment at the moment. As a result, the genetic information transmitted through the female line is representative in nature, since it is based on the conservative component of the evolutionary process, and in the male line, it is selective in nature, since it is based to a greater extent on the law of natural selection.

In a similar way, biodeterminists explain the emergence of psychological differences between men and women. Wider, adaptive, plastic, norm of reaction to change environment allows women to get out of discomfort zones due to conformity, ability to learn, re-education, that is, adaptability. For men, a narrower zone of reaction to environmental changes makes this path impossible. Only resourcefulness, intelligence, risk-taking and determination can ensure their survival in uncomfortable conditions. In other words, the woman adapts to the situation to a greater extent, and the man gets out of it by finding a solution - discomfort stimulates development.

This is why men are more successful in solving new, extraordinary problems that require active search. Women improve this solution. If we are talking about mastering new types of activity, language or writing, then two phases can be distinguished: 1) search and development; 2) consolidation and improvement. The first phase, according to the theory, is more typical for men, and the second - for women.

Innovation in any business, as a result of biological and social evolution, belongs to men. The male half of humanity was the first to master all professions and sports. Even knitting, in which women’s monopoly is now undeniable, was invented by men (Italy, 13th century). The role of the vanguard belongs to men in the tendency to some diseases and to most social vices. It is the male sex that is more often exposed to “new” diseases, or, as they are called, diseases of the century, civilization, urbanization - atherosclerosis, cancer, schizophrenia, AIDS, as well as social vices - alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction, gambling, crime, etc. d.

Consequently, it is precisely the dual nature of evolution: simultaneous changes and preservation of information necessary for development that provoke sexual dimorphism.

In an aggressive environment, both natural and social, there is no process, since in any extreme conditions- earthquakes, famine, wars, diseases, migrations, repressive traditions and customs - differences between the sexes become more noticeable. Men become more masculine and women become more feminine. In this case, each sex, in a single process of evolution, implements its own genetic program: conservative (female) and operational (male). The mission of men is to receive information from the environment, test it on the next generations and pay for it with their own health and life (Geodakyan, 1990).

In a stable environment, when there is no need for constant drastic changes, conservative tendencies are leading. In this case, the need for the male sex on the part of society is less, and therefore sexual dimorphism is manifested to a lesser extent. Physical strength, endurance, activity, risky behavior, curiosity, which are so necessary in uncomfortable conditions, lose their relevance and significance in a stable natural and social environment. It is on this basis, taking into account biodeterministic theories, that such a phenomenon as the unification of the sexes appears.

According to biodeterminists, the male sex acts as a buffer, protective zone around the female nucleus. However, if there is no threat from the environment, then the need for protection disappears by itself. In this case, there is no benefit from the male sex to humanity as a biological species. From the point of view, the process of unification of the sexes is nothing more than the simultaneous feminization of men, who in comfortable conditions are deprived of an active evolutionary position, and the masculinization of women, who are gradually studying and mastering new spheres of life discovered by men (Shevchenko, 2011).

Literature:

Geodakyan, V. A. (June 1–4, 1994). Man and woman. Evolutionary biological purpose. Int. Conf.: Woman and Freedom. Paths of choice in the world of traditions and changes(pp. 8–17). Moscow.

Geodakyan, V. A. (1990). Evolutionary theory floor. Nature, 8 , 60–69.

Shevchenko, Z. V. (26-27 May, 2011). The problem of unification of articles: biological and social aspects of the process. Materials of the 1st All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference(pp. 93–101). Ostrog: Education of the National University "Ostrozka Academy".

What might be responsible for the individual differences between males and females? Obviously, to answer this question it is necessary to go beyond psychology and turn to theories and hypotheses existing in ethology and biology.

The question of why gender exists at all has arisen for a long time. The simplest answer - for reproduction - cannot be considered satisfactory. In the living world, in addition to dioecious reproduction, there is also asexual (vegetative) and hermaphrodite reproduction, and dioecious reproduction has no obvious advantages over them. On the contrary, the combinatorial potential (combination of genes) in hermaphrodites is twice as high, and the number of offspring (reproduction efficiency) is higher in asexuals. However, all progressive forms reproduce sexually (3, 5).

To clarify the role of dioecious reproduction, in 1965, the domestic biologist V.A. Geodakyan (under the obvious influence of cybernetics and systems theory) created the so-called evolutionary theory of sex. In which the author argued that the differentiation of the sexes is associated with specialization in two main aspects of the evolutionary process - preservation and change of genetic information as a form of information contact with the environment beneficial for the population. Obviously, only male (or only female) individuals are not enough to ensure the continuity and development of the species. They must coexist.

Having based his theory on the principle of conjugate subsystems, Geodakyan noted that adaptive systems evolving in a driving environment significantly increase their overall stability subject to differentiation into two conjugate subsystems, with conservative and operational specialization, which belong to female and male individuals, respectively. How does this happen?

Initially, the female body has a wider reaction rate than the male body. So, if a man in conflict behavior, for example, usually behaves explosively, then it is hardly possible to make him tolerant and peaceful. And a woman can combine several strategies in her behavior, using them flexibly depending on the situation. Thanks to this, the adaptive abilities of females are much higher and their learning ability is better. (Research on educational psychology notes that the initial level of abilities is usually higher in boys, but in the process of learning they quickly reach a plateau, while girls, starting from lower indicators, pick up the pace and overtake boys.) If we If we come to a school class and look at the progress of children, it will turn out that girls (like boys) are equally divided into excellent students, poor students and mediocre students. However, if we pose the question differently: who is the most notorious loser and hooligan, who is the most talented student? - it turns out that these groups are filled, as a rule, with boys. That is, the male subsample has more specialized behavior, which generally hinders adaptation at the individual level. All extremes are more clearly represented in men, but women are more trainable.

Let us assume that the species’ environment remains virtually unchanged (such an environment is called stabilizing). In this environment, natural selection leads to a simple increase in the number of individuals, without changing their genotype. For this purpose, there is no need for the presence of a large number of males in the population, the main thing is that there are a sufficiently large number of females. And indeed, in stable conditions, slightly fewer boys are born (there is even a sign that many boys are born for war).

But if the environment abruptly changes its conditions (becomes driving), then the tasks of selection in adaptation change somewhat; it leads not only to an increase in the number of individuals, but also to a change in the genotype. In conditions of disasters (ecological, social, historical), elimination and exclusion from reproduction mainly affect the male sex, and modification - the female. Thanks to the differentiation of the sexes, two main changes appeared compared to asexual reproduction - a wider cross-section of the information channel of interaction in the male individual and a wider reaction norm in the female individual. Thus, a male individual can fertilize a larger number of females, and a female individual can provide a spectrum of phenotypes from one genotype.

After the disappearance of the catastrophic factor and the end of selection, the proportion of male individuals decreases, and their genotypic dispersion narrows (those who did not survive leave no genetic traces). So, women provide permanent phylogenetic memory of the species, and men provide temporary, ontogenetic memory (3).

To illustrate this idea, Geodakyan gives the following poetic example. When there was a general cooling on the planet, women, as highly adapted creatures, increased their fat layer. And men, due to their poor adaptability, turned out to be incapable of this and for the most part simply died out. But the remaining one invented fire to warm the entire community, and from that moment on, it was his genotype that began to be fixed. So, men carry out the search, and women – improvement. This is the mechanism of evolutionary biological (and psychological) progress.

It is obvious that, having a narrow reaction norm, men are more biologically (and psychologically) vulnerable. Therefore, their life expectancy is lower. Newborn boys are more likely to die than girls. However, the majority of centenarians are still men.

Of course, not all anatomical, physiological and behavioral characteristics develop and change, but only some. The presence of differences in characteristics between males and females is called sexual dimorphism, i.e. the existence of two forms (and in psychology they have already begun to use the expression sexual dippsychism). In modern people, for example, there is sexual dimorphism in terms of height, weight, hair growth, but there is no dimorphism in terms of the number of fingers or ears, or eye color.

In a stabilizing environment, there is no sexual dimorphism (there is no need to adapt, and male and female individuals have the same evolutionarily advantageous trait value). And in the moving environment, genotypic sexual dimorphism appears already in one generation, increasing in subsequent generations. By the variability of a trait, one can judge the phase of the evolutionary process based on the trait. Thus, if the variance in the male subsample is higher than in the female subsample, this indicates the beginning of the evolutionary process, and the selection phase is called divergent. Then comes the parallel phase, in which the variances in both groups are approximately equal. Finally, the convergent phase, in which variation in women increases compared to men, indicates that the evolutionary process is close to completion.

Geodakyan formulated the phylogenetic rule of sexual dimorphism: if there is population sexual dimorphism for any trait, then this trait evolves from the female to the male form. That is, the population is masculinized, and the trait values ​​that exist in the male subsample are evolutionarily advantageous. This applies to all species that have dioecious reproduction. So, for example, if in mammals the female is smaller in size than the male, this means that as the evolutionary process progresses, females will increase in size because this is beneficial for the species. In insects (for example, spiders), females, on the contrary, are much larger than males; this suggests that it is easier for a light creature to survive in its environment. Consequently, the females will become smaller.

This fact is also used in breeding: since selection traits are more advanced in fathers, sire selection is a key problem for developing new breeds, even if it concerns hidden traits, such as milk yield.

There is also an ontogenetic rule of sexual dimorphism: if there is population sexual dimorphism for any trait, then during ontogenesis this trait changes, as a rule, from the female to the male form. The rule of the paternal effect in selection is that according to the diverging traits of the parents (which are the subject of attention), the paternal form (breed) should dominate, and according to the converging traits (not essential for breeding the breed), the female form should dominate.

It is interesting that in ontogenesis, female forms of the trait appear earlier, and male forms later. Thus, young children of both sexes are more like girls, and in older people, again, regardless of gender, masculine traits begin to appear (a rough voice, growth of facial hair, etc.). Based on the characterological characteristics of a little girl, one can more reliably predict the personality structure and behavior of an adult woman than in boys. Therefore, we can talk not only about dimorphism, but also about dichronomorphism (i.e., a temporary discrepancy in the manifestation of female and male characteristics) (3, 6).

It is noteworthy that congenital anomalies of an “atavistic” nature more often appear in women, and “futuristic” ones - in men. Thus, among newborn girls there are more often those with tails. However, the longest tail, measuring 13 cm, still belonged to a boy. Sexual dimorphism is observed both in the area of ​​the appearance of diseases (all new diseases, such as cancer, AIDS, first appeared in men), and in the structure of the brain (in men, the asymmetry of the hemispheres and operating systems are more pronounced - the cortex and the left hemisphere, and in women - conservative systems - subcortex and right hemisphere, which determines the predominance of analytical thinking in men, and intuitive, imaginative and sensory cognition in women). Due to less asymmetry, women are also more trainable. In addition, in the cultural and historical process, the flagship role of men is observed: each new profession was at first only male and only then became female, and the main scientific discoveries and cultural revolutions were also carried out by men.

“We love a girl because she is who she is,
young man for what he promises in the future..."

Goethe I.V. , From my life. Poetry and truth /
Collected works in 10 volumes, Volume 3, M.,
« Fiction", 1976, p. 510.

By hypothesis V.A. Geodakyan men and women are no worse or better than each other - they are specialized in different ways...

Thus, women are more adapted to standard situations, but most evolutionarily young traits appear earlier in men (not only beneficial, but also harmful). Figuratively, we can say that men, in a certain sense, are “experimental individuals,” and women are the bearers of successful, already tested solutions.

“... men are more willing to take on new, challenging, extraordinary tasks (often doing them in rough drafts), and women are better at solving familiar problems to perfection. Is this why they excel in jobs that require highly polished skills, such as assembly line work?

If mastery of speech, writing, or any craft is considered in an evolutionary aspect, we can distinguish the phase of search (finding new solutions), mastery and the phase of consolidation and improvement. A male advantage in the first phase and a female advantage in the second was revealed in special studies. Innovation in any business is the mission of the male gender. Men were the first to master all professions, sports, even knitting, in which women's monopoly is now undeniable, was invented by men (Italy, 13th century).

The role of the avant-garde belongs to men and exposure to certain diseases and social vices. It is the male sex that is more often susceptible to “new” diseases, or, as they are called, diseases of the century, civilization, urbanization - atherosclerosis, cancer, schizophrenia, AIDS, as well as social vices - alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction, gambling, crime, etc. .d. [...]

Since the dimorphic state of a trait indicates that it is on the “evolutionary march,” the differences in the most recent evolutionary acquisitions of a person should be maximum - abstract thinking, creative abilities, spatial imagination, humor; they should prevail in men. And indeed, outstanding scientists, composers, artists, writers, directors are mostly men, and among the performers there are many women.”

Geodakyan V.A., Evolutionary theory of sex, Nature magazine, 1991 N 8, p.

“According to the theory of the Moscow scientist V.A. Geodakyan, the process of self-reproduction of any biological system includes two opposing trends: heredity - a conservative factor that strives to keep all parental characteristics unchanged in the offspring, and variability, due to which new characteristics arise.

Females personify, as it were, permanent “memory,” and males represent the operational, temporary “memory” of the species.

The flow of information from the environment associated with changes in external conditions is first perceived by males, who are more closely connected with environmental conditions. Only after weeding out stable shifts from temporary, random ones, genetic information gets inside the stable “inertial core” of the population, represented by females, protected by males.

According to the evolutionary theory of sex, the norm of reaction of female individuals, that is, their adaptability (plasticity) in ontogenesis is somewhat wider in all respects than that of males. The same harmful environmental factor modifies the phenotype of females without affecting their genotype, while in males it destroys not only the phenotype, but also the genotype. For example, when ice age The wide reaction rate of females among our distant ancestors allowed them to “make” thicker fur or thicker subcutaneous fat and survive. The narrow reaction norm of males did not allow this, so only the most genotypically “shaggy” and “fat” of them survived and passed on their genes to their descendants. With the advent of culture (fire, fur coats, housing), along with them, the “inventors” of this culture also survived and achieved success with females. That is, the culture (fur coat) plays the role of a phenotype (wool).

Due to different norms of reactions, women have higher learning ability, educational ability, and conformity, while men have higher resourcefulness, intelligence, and inventiveness (search).

Therefore, new problems that are being solved for the first time, but can be solved somehow (maximum requirements for novelty and minimal requirements for perfection), are better solved by men, and familiar problems (minimum novelty, maximum perfection), on the contrary, are solved better by women.”

Kon I.S. ,Interdisciplinary Research. Sociology. Psychology. Sexology. Anthropology, Rostov-on-Don, “Phoenix”, 2006, p. 475-476.

© V.A. Geodakyan

EVOLUTIONARY THEORY OF SEX V.A. Geodakyan

Vigen Artavazdovich Geodakyan, Doctor of Biological Sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of Evolutionary Morphology and Animal Ecology named after. A.N. Severtsov USSR Academy of Sciences. Theoretical biologist. Scientific interests include sex-related problems of evolution, genetics, ecology, brain asymmetry and psychology, as well as issues of information and systems organization.

Unfortunately, for technical reasons, pictures are not shown - V.V.

NO ONE natural phenomenon did not generate as much interest and did not contain as many mysteries as gender. The problem of sex was dealt with by the greatest biologists: C. Darwin, A. Wallace, A. Weissman, R. Goldschmidt, R. Fischer, G. Meller. But mysteries remained, and modern authorities continued to talk about the crisis of evolutionary biology. "Gender is the main challenge modern theory evolution...queen of evolutionary biology problems"- says G. Bell - “The intuitions of Darwin and Mendel, which illuminated so many mysteries, could not cope with the central mystery of sexual reproduction.”. Why are there two genders? What does this give?

The main advantages of sexual reproduction are usually associated with ensuring genetic diversity, suppressing harmful mutations, and preventing inbreeding - inbreeding. However, all this is the result of fertilization, which also occurs in hermaphrodites, and not differentiation (separation) into two sexes. In addition, the combinatorial potential of hermaphroditic reproduction is two times higher than that of dioecious reproduction, and the quantitative efficiency of asexual methods is two times higher than that of sexual ones. It turns out that the dioecious method is the worst? Why then are all evolutionarily progressive forms of animals (mammals, birds, insects) and plants (dioecious) dioecious?

The author of these lines, back in the early 60s, expressed the idea that gender differentiation is an economical form of information contact with the environment, specialization in two main “aspects of evolution - conservative and operational. Since then, it has been possible to uncover a number of patterns and create a theory that explains many different facts from a unified perspective and predicts new ones.The essence of the theory will be presented in the article.

TWO SEXES - TWO STREAM OF INFORMATION

In principle, two solutions to this conflict are possible for the system: to be at some optimal “distance” from the environment or to split into two coupled subsystems - conservative and operational, the first one “moved away” from the environment in order to preserve the existing information, and the second one “brought closer” to the environment to get a new one. The second solution increases the overall stability of the system, therefore it is often found among evolving, adaptive, tracking systems (regardless of their specific nature) - biological, social, technical, etc. This is precisely the evolutionary logic of sex differentiation. Asexual forms “adhere” to the first solution, dioecious forms to the second.

If we distinguish two flows of information: generative (transfer of genetic information from generation to generation, from the past to the future) and ecological (information from the environment, from the present to the future), then it is easy to see that the two sexes participate in them differently. In the evolution of sex, at different stages and levels of organization, a number of mechanisms appeared that consistently ensured a closer connection of the female sex with the generative (conservative) flow, and the male sex with the ecological (operational) flow. Thus, the male sex, compared to the female sex, has a higher frequency of mutations, less additivity of inheritance of parental characteristics, a narrower reaction norm, higher aggressiveness and curiosity, more active search, risky behavior and other qualities that “bring closer to the environment.” All of them, purposefully placing the male sex on the periphery of distribution, provide him with preferential receipt of environmental information. Another group of features is the huge redundancy of male gametes, their small size and high mobility, great activity and the mobility of males, their tendency to polygamy and other ethological and psychological properties. Long periods of pregnancy, feeding and caring for offspring in females, actually increasing the effective concentration of males, turn the male sex into “surplus”, therefore, “cheap”, and the female into scarce and more valuable.

This leads to the fact that selection operates mainly due to the exclusion of male individuals; “redundancy” and “cheapness” allow it to work with large coefficients. As a result, the number of males in the population decreases, but their greater potential allows them to fertilize all females. A small number of males transmits as much information to their offspring as a large number of females; in other words, the channel of communication with offspring is wider for males than for females. This means that the genetic information transmitted through the female line is more representative, but through the male line it is selective, i.e., in the female line the past diversity of genotypes is more fully preserved, while in the male line the average genotype changes more strongly.

Let's move on to the population - an elementary evolving unit.

Any dioecious population is characterized by three main parameters: sex ratio (the ratio of the number of males to the number of females), sex dispersion (the ratio of the variance values ​​of a trait, or its diversity, in males and females), sexual dimorphism (the ratio of the average values ​​of a trait for males and females). floors). Attributing a conservative mission to the female sex, and an operational one to the male sex, the theory connects these population parameters with environmental conditions and the evolutionary plasticity of the species.

In a stable (optimal) environment, when there is no need to change anything, conservative tendencies are strong and evolutionary plasticity is minimal. In a driving (extreme) environment, when it is necessary to increase plasticity, operational tendencies intensify. In some species, say lower crustaceans, these transitions are carried out by switching from one type of reproduction to another (for example, in optimal conditions - parthenogenetic, in extreme conditions - dioecious). In most dioecious species, this regulation is smooth: under optimal conditions, the main characteristics decrease (the birth rate of males falls, their dispersion narrows, sexual dimorphism decreases), and under extreme conditions they increase (this is the ecological rule of sex differentiation).

Since environmental stress leads to their sharp growth, these population parameters can serve as an indicator of the state of the ecological niche. In this regard, it is significant that the birth rate of boys in Karakalpakstan has increased by 5% over the past decade. According to the ecological rule, the basic parameters should increase during any natural or social disasters (major earthquakes, wars, famine, relocations, etc.). Now about the elementary step of evolution.

TRANSFORMATION OF GENETIC INFORMATION IN ONE GENERATION

A genotype is a program that in different environments can be realized into one of a whole range of phenotypes (traits). Therefore, the genotype does not record a specific value of a trait, but a range of possible values. In ontogenesis, one phenotype is realized, the most suitable for a particular environment. Consequently, the genotype specifies a range of realizations, the environment “selects” a point within this range, the width of which is the reaction norm, characterizing the degree of participation of the environment in determining the trait

For some characteristics, for example, blood type or eye color, the reaction norm is narrow, so the environment does not actually influence them; for others - psychological, intellectual abilities - it is very wide, so many associate them only with the influence of the environment, i.e. upbringing; third characteristics, say height, mass, occupy an intermediate position.

Taking into account two differences between the sexes - in the reaction rate (which is wider in females) and in the cross-section of the communication channel (wider in males) - let us consider the transformation of genetic information in one generation, i.e. from zygotes to zygotes, in becoming a bilizing and driving environment . Let us assume that the initial distribution of genotypes in the population is the same for male and female zygotes, i.e., there is no sexual dimorphism for the trait in question. In order to obtain from the distribution of zygote genotypes the distribution of phenotypes (organisms before and after selection), from it, in turn, the distribution of egg and sperm genotypes, and, finally, the distribution of zygotes of the next generation, it is enough to trace the transformation of two extreme genotypes of zygotes into extreme phenotypes, extreme gametes and again into zygotes. The remaining genotypes are intermediate and will remain so in all distributions. The wider reaction norm of the female sex allows it, due to modification plasticity, to leave the selection zones, preserve and transmit to the offspring the entire spectrum of the original genotypes.

The narrow reaction norm of the male sex forces him to remain in the zones of elimination and undergo intense selection. Therefore, the male sex transmits to the next generation only a narrow part of the original spectrum of genotypes, which best corresponds to the environmental conditions at the moment. In a stabilizing environment this is the middle part of the spectrum, in a driving environment it is the edge of the distribution. This means that the genetic information transmitted by the female sex to the offspring is more representative, and that transmitted by the male sex is more selective. Intensive selection reduces the number of males, but since the formation of zygotes requires an equal number of male and female gametes, males have to fertilize more than one female. The wide cross-section of the male channel allows this. Consequently, in each generation of the population, eggs of a wide variety, carrying information about the past richness of genotypes, merge with sperm of a narrow variety, the genotypes of which contain information only about the ones most suitable for current environmental conditions. Thus, the next generation receives information about the past from the maternal side, and information about the present from the paternal side.

In a stabilizing environment, the average genotypes of male and female gametes are the same, only their variances differ, therefore the genotypic distribution of zygotes of the next generation coincides with the initial one. The only result of sex differentiation in this case comes down to the population paying for environmental information with the “cheaper” male sex. The picture is different in the driving environment, where changes affect not only variances, but also the average values ​​of genotypes. Genotypic sexual dimorphism of gametes arises, which is nothing more than a recording (fixation) of environmental information in the distribution of male gametes. What is his future fate?

If paternal genetic information is transmitted stochastically to sons and daughters, at fertilization it will become completely mixed and sexual dimorphism will disappear. But if there are any mechanisms that prevent complete mixing, some of this information will pass from fathers only to sons and, therefore, some sexual dimorphism will be retained in zygotes. But such mechanisms exist. For example, only sons receive information from the genes of the Y chromosome; Genes are expressed differently in offspring, depending on whether they are inherited from the father or mother. Without such barriers, it is also difficult to explain the dominance of the paternal genotype in offspring from reciprocal crosses, known in animal husbandry, for example, the high milk yield of cows transmitted through a bull. All this allows us to believe that only gender differences in the reaction rate and the cross-section of the communication channel are sufficient for genotypic sexual dimorphism to arise in the driving environment within one generation, which will accumulate and grow as generations change.

DIMORPHISM AND DICHRONISM IN PHYLOGENESIS

So, when the stabilizing environment becomes driving for a given trait, the evolution of the male trait begins. gender, but in the female it remains, that is, the divergence of the character occurs, from monomorphic it turns into dimorphic.

From several possible evolutionary scenarios, two obvious facts allow us to choose the only one: both sexes evolve; There are both mono- and dimorphic characters. This is only possible if the phases of the evolution of the trait in the sexes are shifted in time: in the male, the change in the trait begins and ends earlier than in the female. Moreover, according to the ecological rule, the minimum dispersion of a trait in a stabilizing environment expands with the beginning of evolution and narrows at its completion.

The evolutionary trajectory of the trait bifurcates into male and female branches, and sexual dimorphism appears and grows. This is the divergent phase in which the rate of evolution and dispersion of the trait is male. After many generations, the variance in the female sex begins to expand and the trait begins to change. Sexual dimorphism, having reached its optimum, remains constant. This is a parallel phase: the rates of evolution of the trait and its dispersion in both sexes are constant and equal. When the trait reaches a new, stable value in the male sex, the variance narrows and evolution stops, but still continues in the female sex. This is the convergent phase in which the rate of evolution and dispersion is greater in the female sex. Sexual dimorphism gradually decreases and, when the trait becomes the same in the sexes, disappears, and the variances level out and become minimal. This completes the dimorphic stage of evolution of the trait, which is again followed by the monomorphic, or stability stage.

Thus, the entire phylogenetic trajectory of the evolution of a trait consists of alternating monomorphic and dimorphic stages, and the theory considers the presence of dimorphism itself as a criterion for the evolution of the trait.

So, sexual dimorphism for any trait is closely related to its evolution: it appears with its beginning, persists while it continues, and disappears as soon as evolution ends. This means that sexual dimorphism is a consequence not only of sexual selection, as Darwin believed, but of any kind: natural, sexual, artificial. This is an indispensable stage, a mode of evolution of any trait in dioecious forms, associated with the formation of a “distance” between the sexes along the morphological and chronological axes. Sexual dimorphism and sexual dichronism are two dimensions of a common phenomenon - dichronomorphism.

The above can be formulated in the form of phylogenetic rules of sexual dimorphism and sex dispersion: if there is population sexual dimorphism for any trait, then the trait evolves from the female to the male form; if the dispersion of a trait is greater in the male sex - the phase is divergent, the dispersions are equal - parallel, the dispersion is greater in the female sex - the convergent phase. According to the first rule, one can determine the direction of evolution of a trait, and according to the second, its phase, or the path traveled. Using the rule of sexual dimorphism, a number of easily testable predictions can be made. Thus, based on the fact that the evolution of most vertebrate species was accompanied by an increase in size, it is possible to establish the direction of sexual dimorphism - in large forms, males are, as a rule, larger than females. Conversely, since many insects and arachnids have become smaller during evolution, in small forms the males should be smaller than the females.

The rule can be easily tested on farm animals and plants whose artificial evolution (selection) was directed by humans. Selection - economically valuable - traits should be more advanced in males. There are many such examples: in meat breeds of animals - pigs, sheep, cows, birds - males grow faster, gain weight and produce better quality meat; stallions are superior to mares in sports and working qualities; rams of fine wool breeds produce 1.5-2 times more wool than sheep; Male fur-bearing animals have better fur than females; male silkworms produce 20% more silk, etc.

Let us now move from the phylogenetic time scale to the ontogenetic one.

DIMORPHISM AND DICHRONISM IN ONTOGENESIS

If each of the phases of the phylogenetic scenario is projected onto ontogeny (according to the law of recapitulation, ontogenesis is a brief repetition of phylogeny), we can obtain six corresponding phases (three phases in evolutionary stage and three in stable; pre-evolutionary, post-evolutionary and inter-evolutionary) of different scenarios for the development of sexual dimorphism in individual development. Dichronism will manifest itself in ontogenesis as an age-related delay in the development of a trait in the female sex, i.e., the dominance of the female form of a dimorphic trait at the beginning of ontogenesis and the male form at the end. This is an ontogenetic rule of sexual dimorphism: if there is population sexual dimorphism for any trait, during ontogenesis this trait changes, as a rule, from the female to the male form. In other words, the characteristics of the maternal breed should weaken with age, and those of the paternal breed should strengthen. Testing this rule against two dozen anthropometric characteristics completely confirms the prediction of the theory. A striking example is the development of horns in different types deer and antelope: the stronger the “hornedness” of a species, the earlier in ontogenesis horns appear, first in males and then in females. The same pattern - age-related delay in development in females due to functional asymmetry of the brain - was revealed by S. Vitelzon. She examined the ability of 200 right-handed children to recognize objects by touch with their left and right hands and found that boys already at the age of 6 had a right-hemisphere specialization, and girls up to 13 years old were “symmetrical.”

The described patterns refer to dimorphic, evolving characters. But there are also monomorphic, stable ones, in which sexual dimorphism is normally absent. These are fundamental characteristics of the species and higher ranks of community, such as multicellularity, warm-bloodedness, a body plan common to both sexes, the number of organs, etc. According to the theory, if their dispersion is greater in the male sex, then the phase is pre-evolutionary, if in the female - post-evolutionary. In the last phase, the theory predicts the existence of "relics" of sexual dimorphism and gender dispersion in pathology. The "relic" of dispersion manifests itself as an increased frequency of congenital anomalies in the female sex, and the "relic" of sexual dimorphism - in their different directions. This is the teratological rule of sexual dimorphism: congenital anomalies of an atavistic nature should appear more often in females, and those of a futuristic nature (search) - in males. For example, among newborn children with an excess number of kidneys, ribs, vertebrae, teeth, etc. - all organs , who have undergone a reduction in number during evolution, there should be more girls, and with their shortage - boys. Medical statistics confirm this: among 2 thousand children born with one kidney, there are approximately 2.5 times more boys, and among 4 thousand. There are almost twice as many children with three kidneys as girls. This distribution is not accidental; it reflects the evolution of the excretory system. Consequently, three kidneys in girls is a return to the ancestral type of development, an atavistic direction; one kidney for boys is futuristic, a continuation of the reduction trend. The statistics for the anomalous number of edges are similar. Five to six times more girls than boys are born with dislocated hips, a congenital defect that makes children better at running and climbing trees than healthy ones.

The picture is similar in the distribution of congenital heart defects and great vessels. Of the 32 thousand verified diagnoses, all “female” defects were dominated by elements characteristic of the embryonic heart or phylogenetic predecessors of humans: an open foramen ovale in the interatrial septum, a non-closed botal duct (the vessel connecting the fetal pulmonary artery to the aorta), etc. “Male” the defects were more often new (search): they had no analogues either in phylogeny or in embryos - various kinds of stenosis (narrowing) and transposition of the great vessels.

The listed rules cover dimorphic characteristics inherent in both sexes. What about traits that are characteristic only of one sex, such as egg production and milk yield? Phenotypic sexual dimorphism for such traits is of an absolute, organismal nature, but hereditary information about them is recorded in the genotype of both sexes. Therefore, if they evolve, there must be genotypic sexual dimorphism in them, which can be found in reciprocal hybrids. Based on such characteristics (among other evolving ones), the theory predicts the direction of reciprocal effects. In reciprocal hybrids, according to the divergent characteristics of the parents, the paternal form (breed) should dominate, and according to the converging characteristics, the maternal form. This is the evolutionary rule of reciprocal effects. It provides an amazing opportunity to reveal greater genotypic advancement of the male sex, even based on purely female characteristics. This seemingly paradoxical prediction of the theory is fully confirmed: in the same breed, bulls are genotypically “more productive” than cows, and roosters are more “egg-laying” than hens, i.e., these traits are transmitted predominantly by males.

Problems of evolution mostly refer to "black boxes" without an input - direct experimentation is impossible in them. Evolutionary teaching drew the necessary information from three sources: paleontology, comparative anatomy and embryology. Each of them has significant limitations, since it covers only part of the characteristics. The formulated rules provide a new method for evolutionary research on absolutely all characteristics of dioecious forms. Therefore, the method is of particular value for studying human evolution, its characteristics such as temperament, intelligence, functional asymmetry of the brain, verbal, spatial-visual, creative abilities, humor and other psychological properties to which traditional methods are not applicable.

FUNCTIONAL ASYMMETRY OF THE BRAIN AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FEATURES

For a long time it was considered a human privilege, associated with speech, right-handedness, self-awareness, and it was believed that asymmetry was secondary - a consequence of these unique human characteristics. It has now been established that asymmetry is widespread in placental animals; most researchers also recognize the difference in its severity in men and women. J. Levy believes, for example, that the female brain is similar to the brain of a left-handed man, that is, less asymmetrical than that of a right-handed man.

From the perspective of gender theory, more asymmetrical brains in men (and the males of some vertebrates) mean that evolution is moving from symmetry to asymmetry. Sexual dimorphism in brain asymmetry offers hope for understanding and explaining differences in the abilities and inclinations of men and women.

It is known that our distant phylogenetic ancestors had lateral eyes (in human embryos at early stages of development they are located in the same way), the visual fields did not overlap, each eye was connected only to the opposite hemisphere (contralateral connections). In the process of evolution, the eyes moved to the front side, the visual fields overlapped, but for a stereoscopic picture to arise, visual information from both eyes had to be concentrated in one area of ​​​​the brain.

Vision became stereoscopic only after additional ipsilateral fibers appeared, which connected the left eye to the left hemisphere, and the right to the right. This means that the ipsilateral connections are evolutionarily younger than the contralateral ones, and therefore in men they should be more advanced, i.e. there are more ipsilateral fibers in the optic nerve.

Since three-dimensional imagination and spatial-visual abilities are associated with stereoscopy (and the number of ipsi-fibers), they should be better developed in men than in women. Indeed, psychologists are well aware that men are far superior to women in understanding geometric problems, as well as in reading maps, orienteering, etc.

How did psychological sexual dimorphism arise, from the point of view of gender theory? There is no fundamental difference in the evolution of morphophysiological and psychological or behavioral traits. The wide norm of reaction of the female sex provides it with higher plasticity (adaptability) in ontogenesis than that of the male sex. This also applies to psychological signs. Selection in zones of discomfort in males and females goes in different directions: thanks to a wide reaction norm, the female sex can “get out” of these zones due to education, learning, conformity, i.e., in general, adaptability. For the male sex, this path is closed due to the narrow norm of reaction; only resourcefulness, quick wits, and ingenuity can ensure his survival in uncomfortable conditions. In other words, women adapt to the situation, men get out of it by finding a new solution, discomfort stimulates the search.

Therefore, men are more willing to take on new, challenging, and extraordinary tasks (often doing them in rough drafts), while women are better at solving familiar problems to perfection. Is this why they excel in jobs that require highly polished skills, such as assembly line work?

If mastery of speech, writing, or any craft is considered in an evolutionary aspect, we can distinguish the phase of search (finding new solutions), mastery and the phase of consolidation and improvement. A male advantage in the first phase and a female advantage in the second was revealed in special studies.

Innovation in any business is the mission of the male gender. Men were the first to master all professions, sports, even knitting, in which women's monopoly is now undeniable, was invented by men (Italy, 13th century). The role of the avant-garde belongs to men and exposure to certain diseases and social vices. It is the male sex that is more often susceptible to “new” diseases, or, as they are called, diseases of the century; civilization, urbanization - atherosclerosis, cancer, schizophrenia, AIDS, as well as social vices - alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction, gambling, crime, etc.

According to the theory, there should be two opposing types of mental illness, associated with the vanguard role of the male gender and the rearguard role of the female.

Pathology, which is accompanied by insufficient brain asymmetry, small size of the corpus callosum and large anterior commissures, should be two to four times more common in women, anomalies with the opposite characteristics - in men. Why?

If there are no differences between the sexes in a quantitative trait, then the distribution of its values ​​in the population is often described by a Gaussian curve. The two extreme regions of such a distribution are the zones of pathology - “plus” and “minus” deviations from the norm, into each of which male and female individuals fall with equal probability. But if sexual dimorphism exists, then in each sex the trait is distributed according to -in their own way, two curves are formed, separated by the amount of sexual dimorphism. Since they remain within the general population distribution, one zone of pathology will be enriched in males, the other - in females. By the way, this also explains the “sexual specialization” characteristic of the population of almost all countries of the world in many other countries diseases.

The above examples show how the theory of gender “works” only in some human problems; in fact, it covers a much larger array of phenomena, including the social aspect.

Since the dimorphic state of a trait indicates that it is on the “evolutionary march,” the differences in the most recent evolutionary acquisitions of man—abstract thinking, creative abilities, spatial imagination, and humor—should be maximum; they should predominate in men. Indeed, outstanding scientists, composers, artists, writers, directors are mostly men, and there are many women among the performers.

The problem of gender affects very important areas of human interest: demography and medicine, psychology and pedagogy, the study of alcoholism, drug addiction and crime; through genetics it is connected with economics. A correct social concept of gender is needed to solve the problems of fertility and mortality, family and education, vocational guidance. Such a concept must be built on a natural biological basis, because without understanding the biological, evolutionary roles of the male and female sexes, it is impossible to correctly determine their social roles.

Here are presented only a few general biological conclusions of the theory of sex; various previously incomprehensible phenomena and facts are explained from a unified position; prognostic possibilities are mentioned. So, let's summarize. The evolutionary theory of sex allows:

• 1) predict the behavior of the main characteristics of a dioecious population in stable (optimal) and driving (extreme) environments;
• 2) differentiate evolving and stable characteristics;
• 3) determine the direction of evolution of any trait;
• 4) establish the phase (path traveled) of the evolution of the trait;
• 5) determine the average rate of evolution of the trait: V= dimorphism/dichronism
• 6) predict six different variants of the ontogenetic dynamics of sexual dimorphism corresponding to each phase of phylogeny;
• 7) predict the direction of dominance of the paternal or maternal breed trait in reciprocal hybrids;
• 8) predict and reveal “relics” of gender dispersion and sexual dimorphism in the field of congenital pathologies;
• 9) establish a connection between age and sex epidemiology.

So, the specialization of the female sex in preserving genetic information, and the male sex in changing it, is achieved by the heterochronic evolution of the sexes. Consequently, sex is not so much a method of reproduction, as is commonly believed, but a method of asynchronous evolution.

Since the work presented here is the fruit of theoretical reflections and generalizations, it is impossible not to say a few words about the role of theoretical research in biology. Natural science, according to the famous physicist and Nobel Prize winner R. Millikan, moves on two legs - theory and experiment. But this is how things are - in physics, in biology the cult of facts reigns, it still lives by observations and experiments, theoretical biology as such, an analogue of theoretical physics does not exist. Of course, this is due to the complexity of living systems, hence the skepticism of biologists who are accustomed to following the traditional path - from facts and experiments to generalizing conclusions and theory. But can the science of living things still remain purely empirical in the “age of biology,” which, as many contemporaries recognize, is replacing the “age of physics”? I think it’s time for biology to stand on both legs.

Literature

Bell G., The Masterprice of Nature. The Evolution and Genetics of Sexuality, London, 1982.
. Geodakyan V. A. // Probl. transmission of information 1965. T. 1. No. 1. P. 105-112.
. For more details see; Geodakyan V. A. Evolutionary logic of sex differentiation // Nature. 1983. No. 1. P. 70-80.
. Geodakyan V. A. // Dokl. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 1983. T. 269. No. 12. P. 477-482.
. Vitelson S.F..// Science. 1976. V. 193. M 4251. R. 425-427.
. Geodakyan V. A., Sherman A. L. // Journal. total biology. 1971. T. 32. No. 4. P. 417-424.
. Geodakyan V. A. // System research: methodological problems. Yearbook. 1986. M., 1987. pp. 355-376.
. Geodakyan V. A. The theory of gender differentiation in human problems // Man in the system of sciences. M., 1989. pp. 171-189.

Geodakyan V.A. The role of the sexes in the transmission and transformation of genetic information // Problems of information transmission. 1965. T. 1. No. 1. P. 105-112.

Geodakyan V.A. Differential mortality and the norm of reaction of males and females // Journal. total biol. 1974. T. 35. No. 3.

Geodakyan V.A. Evolutionary logic of sex differentiation // Nature. 1983. No. 1. P. 70-80.

Geodakyan V.A. Ontogenetic rule of sexual dimorphism // Dokl. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 1983. T. 269. No. 12. P. 477-482.

Geodakyan V.A. On theoretical biology / Methodological aspects of evolutionary teaching. Kyiv, 1986.

Geodakyan V.A. The theory of gender differentiation in human problems // Man in the system of sciences. M., 1989. pp. 171-189.

Geodakyan V.A. Evolutionary theory of sex // Nature. 1991. No. 8.

http://vivovoco.rsl.ru/VV/PAPERS/NATURE/VV_SC30W.HTM

Geodakyan V.A. Two genders: why and why? St. Petersburg, 1992.

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