Cultural Ecology and Reproduction

What would reproduction look like if every man needed potency pills, or medication that give men an artificial “boost” of sexual performance?

Though not likely to happen in the near future, the consequences of a society in this state could be dire.

What if that medication were to run out — would we still be able to reproduce?

Though it’s certainly not yet clear that this is a course that the human race will take for some time, but cultural ecology tells us that adaptations such as this are a serious consequence of widespread societal use of pills as a means of stimulating reproductive success.
Cultural ecology studies how human culture impacts the past and future of human evolution. For the majority of evolutionary history, aspects of a species’ environment have largely determined how that species adapts to living in its environment. Through small, random physiological changes, members of the species that develop adaptations that make them better suited for survival in a particular environment are more likely to survive and produce more offspring with similar traits.

Consider a species of bug that spends its life on leaves — bugs that are more green will tend to outlive bugs who are less green (because predators can more easily see and kill the not-green bugs), so more green bugs will live long enough to reproduce, passing on their greenness to later generations.
Now consider sexual performance. If, among the newly adapted green bugs, some of the bugs have significantly better sexual performance than others. Because these “super-sexual” bugs are more able to reproduce their superior sexual performance, like their greenness, will get passed on to later generations (and “bad” sexual performance will not). If, like in the bugs, humans with greater sexual potency are better able to pass on their genetic traits, high levels of sexual performance should be passed on from generation to generation.
However, in a complex society like the one that humans inhabit, there are lots of cultural factors that can impact this process. Today, a male with bad sexual performance, who should be unable to reproduce and pass on his genetic traits, can now take potency pills that increase his sexual performance beyond what it may naturally be. This way, “bad” sexual performance gets passed on to the next generation, who also end up needing potency pills to be able to reproduce effectively.

And so on generations will progress, while in general male potency will be reduced. Eventually, if potency pill use becomes widespread, this could lead to a corresponding decline in natural human sexual performance. Thankfully, this will only happen if males increasingly become dependant on pills for reproduction and not simply continued sexual pleasure beyond the age where sexual performance comes naturally. So, at least for the time being, we should be in the clear.