Arts window on the world

Pheromones were first found in insects (I believe). These are chemicals given off by one individual to which another idividual has an involuntary reaction. Thus a female moth will give off a pheromone which a male moth 2 miles away will detect and fly towards. Most work done on pheromones has dealt with sexual matters, but there is no reason for pheromones to be limited to sex.

Animals are known to use pheromones, again especially for sexual attraction or communication, but probably also for anger matters. Think of two bulls in combat. There appears to be pheromones each telling the other "I am better" Then when one quits fighting, the other lets him go. Obviously the pheromones have changed!

I have heard of 2 human pheromones identified. One is a (probably) sexual pheromone, but what it does is not certain. The other was identified as a "trust me" pheromone.

Since humans are animals there are virtually certain to be other pheromones in existence. However, since they act directly upon us, we will not be able to identify them directly. However, they should be subject to identification by looking at human behavior, especially where the "logical" justification appears to be "weak".

Take male-female attraction. No one has figured out the logic behind male-female behavior. Yes, we can identify contributors, but still ... it remains a mystery. So "love at first sight" almost certainly is a pheromone phenomonum.

Marriage results in a changed relationship between a male and a female. This is especially true for a long term marriage - "Husband and wives begin to resemble each other." The bible talks about a "new being" in marriage. This sounds like an exchange in pheromones each resulting in a change in the partner. This is interesting as it is a long term, reciprocal, pheromone exchange.

Notice that sexual relations are similarly treated as changing each partner. This points to a reason for chastity (faithfulness to one partner). The sexual relationship in marriage is an ongoing and changing relationship in which relationships with others would interfere and damage it. Since all cultures recognize a value to chastity (even if there are varying values placed on it), this implies that it relates to a constant in human behavior.

Look at male bonding under stress. Military units are famous (?notorius) for their members mutual support. Yet just men acting together are equally known for selfish activity. So why the mutual support in a military unit? Pheromones acting in a high stress situation tend cause males to bond to each other - even when they don't like each other! This may also explain some of the old boy network "problems" in companies and the initiation rites in male societies. This also explains why putting a new member into a military unit causes trouble until the person has undergone combat together with the others.

On the other hand, women in sororities (female units) don't seem bond the same way. The bonding for women seems to be more related to children. Women fight for their children the way men fight for their bonded unit! But they don't defend other women the same way.