ancestors may have practiced polygyny, or a form of serial monogamy, as 
is found in some primates, such as chimpanzees.  In this system males and 
females form consort bonds for the duration of raising a child, and remain 
with one another, although not necessarily exclusively, throughout the 
duration.  This fits well with the "four-year itch" psychological 
phenomena, as the four years of consort would be the approximate time 
that male and female humans would tend to remain together in a "state of 
nature."  In this explanation for monogamy, a pair is monogamous only 
for the sake of child rearing and then is free to move onto the next mate.
	Thus, it can be concluded that the "state of nature" once thought to 
have belonged to humans, that of Jean Jacques Rousseau's Noble Savage, 
is clearly one that needs revision, as humans gain more insight into their 
true "state of nature."  Primate models have served very well to provide 
this insight, as humans have learned that social organization is, indeed a 
compromise between individuals, as they compete for resources, of which 
sex is paramount.  Since so much is founded on the human "state of 
nature" assumed by the philosophers of the past, however, we must careful 
how much we allow to be affected by our greater knowledge of our past.  
If humanity were to restructure its entire society based on our knowledge 
of our past, we would merely be removing the most important element of 
the past million years of our evolution - culture.  We must accept this 
knowledge of the true state of human nature as explaining certain aspects 
of human behavior, but not allow this knowledge to shake the very 
foundations of what has allowed us to reach this state - a state where 
humans are able to recognize where we came from and how they got there.






[ed. - references available upon request]

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