Regarding the built-in suicide switch idea, I think there is a case to be made that the primary function of hypergamy is the 'creative destruction' of successful human societies.
Nature (or God) never does anything for no reason and I have often pondered why hypergamy has risen to be the prince of human instincts (after the drive to eat). If it did not serve a purpose humans would have evolved out of it. But not only have we not, it is so powerful that it is responsible for everything humans have achieved, or ever will achieve. Everything from the first cave painting to landing a probe on a comet, has, at it's root, men's drive to get laid.
Occasionally we humans create a system, a society, that is so comfortable that we just stop trying. This is not good for us as individuals or as a species - when we stop progressing, when we stop pushing, we start to die. This is when hypergamy kicks in - comfortable societies tend to produce weak men, which triggers the hypergamous response in women, who push for greater roles in society, thereby causing it to fail / collapse. When we rebuild, we tend to build something better than we had before.
It is easy to hate on hypergamy but ultimately it may be the price we pay for being as successful a species as we are - it may be the single trait that ensures our survival where other species fail.
Nature (or God) never does anything for no reason and I have often pondered why hypergamy has risen to be the prince of human instincts (after the drive to eat). If it did not serve a purpose humans would have evolved out of it. But not only have we not, it is so powerful that it is responsible for everything humans have achieved, or ever will achieve. Everything from the first cave painting to landing a probe on a comet, has, at it's root, men's drive to get laid.
Occasionally we humans create a system, a society, that is so comfortable that we just stop trying. This is not good for us as individuals or as a species - when we stop progressing, when we stop pushing, we start to die. This is when hypergamy kicks in - comfortable societies tend to produce weak men, which triggers the hypergamous response in women, who push for greater roles in society, thereby causing it to fail / collapse. When we rebuild, we tend to build something better than we had before.
It is easy to hate on hypergamy but ultimately it may be the price we pay for being as successful a species as we are - it may be the single trait that ensures our survival where other species fail.