In other words, we should not be fooled by etymology and think that theory is about Vorhandenheit and praxis about Zuhandenheit
Sex costs amazing amounts of time and energy. Just take birds of paradise touting their tails, stags jousting with their antlers or singles spending their weekends in loud and sweaty bars. Is sex really worth all the effort that we, sexual species, collectively put into it?
Most biologists think that sex is totally worth it. With sex, every new generation receives a fresh combination of genes from its parents. This makes it easier to adapt to changing environments, as genes can spread quickly through a population.
In asexual species every child will be genetically identical to its parents, making it hard to compensate for disadvantageous mutations. Biologists expect that deleterious mutations will pile up in asexual species in a process known as Muller’s ratchet. With every mutation in an asexual lineage, Muller’s ratchet clicks one step closer to extinction.
photo { Glenn Glasser }
