September 21st, 2008 
This ad by Hearts on Fire is trying to sell you on the idea that diamonds will buy you monogamy, and that a “Hearts on Fire” branded diamond will buy you monogamy to the 100th power. Each Hearts On Fire’s round brilliant-cut diamond displays what is known in the diamond industry as “hearts and arrows”, which you will only find in ideal cut diamonds, and the company uses 100X magnification rather than the industry standard of 10X magnification for cutting and polishing their diamonds. They sell beautiful diamonds, but diamonds will not buy you monogamy. Diamonds also won’t buy you intense passion, strong chemistry, and good looks like you find in their ad.
But in a few years, there may be a pill which will buy you monogamy! Researchers found that the arginine vasopressin receptor 1a gene was associated with difficulties, for men, in maintaining long-term monogamous relationships. According to an article in the New York Times:
Among mammals, the sort of lifestyle that many 21st century humans idealize and strive for — a man and a woman living together for decades in a committed, sexually faithful relationship, rearing children together — is rare. Fewer than 5 percent of mammal species have evolved even an approximation of it. (The approximation is a couple living together as a social arrangement — so-called “social monogamy.” They may or may not be sexually monogamous as well.) Examples of the socially monogamous? They include Kirk’s dik-dik, a small African antelope; the fat-tailed dwarf lemur, a small primate from Madagascar; the prairie vole, a North American rodent; some human beings.
It’s a fascinating article, and really makes you realize how much of our behavior is probably based on instinct, although as humans we of course don’t like to admit that we aren’t really in control. But maybe with the help of science, we will develop congruency between our behavior and our values, which is key to happiness.
- Miss A
