Civilizations: Same Plot, Same Author?

[James Brody]

This could be brilliant, it could also be crap that means, in Normal Mailer's words, I live by coincidence and listen to popular music.

Pill turns off women to traditional males: Chapter 1
"Scientists have long known that a woman's taste in men changes over her menstrual cycle.
"During the few days each month when women are fertile - around the time of ovulation - they tend to prefer masculine features and men who are more assertive.

"On these fertile days, women are also more attracted to men who are 'genetically dissimilar', Dr Alvergne said. Picking a partner whose genetic make-up is unlike their own increases the chances of having a healthy child.

"On days when women are not fertile, their tastes swing towards more feminine, boyish faces and more caring personalities, researchers have shown.

"However, if women are taking the Pill they no longer have fertile days.
"That means they no longer experience the hormonal changes that make them more attracted to masculine men and those with dissimilar genetic make-up."

More at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz0TNAHmUSk

The Pill Turned Off Roman Women? Nope: Chapter 2

"According to Gibbon, the Roman Empire succumbed to barbarian invasions in large part due to the gradual loss of civic virtue among its citizens. They had become weak, outsourcingtheir duties to defend their Empire to barbarian mercenaries, who then became so numerous and ingrained that they were able to take over the Empire. Romans, he believed, had become effeminate, unwilling to live a tougher, "manly" military lifestyle. He further blames the degeneracy of the Roman army and the Praetorian guards. In addition, Gibbon argued that Christianity created a belief that a better life existed after death, which fostered an indifference to the present among Roman citizens, thus sapping their desire to sacrifice for the Empire. He also believed its comparative pacifism tended to hamper the traditional Roman martial spirit. Lastly, like other Enlightenment thinkers, Gibbon held in contempt the Middle Ages as a priest-ridden, superstitious, dark age. It was not until his own age of reason and rational thought, it was believed, that human history could resume its progress."

Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_His...e_Roman_Empire

Are Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 really the same chapter? That is, what is the role, if any, of environment in changing the genomic tuning of a fetus? Is there a link between these events and Ed Wilson's K- and r-selection? And to Lott's descriptions of female participation in government and the growth of its size and cost?