[Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

[scc]

Yeah, really bad title, but it was the best I could come up with. Any way this is an idea that I've been kicking around for some time, this template represents female space colonists from a society that uses genetic engineering on it's colonists. The behind this particular group of modifications is to cause population to grow faster by skewing births to favor female. Because most of the items on this list are features they're listed alphabetically by TL to make reading easier, it also suggests multiple versions as TL progress as technology progress. Format is Trait, (Page number in Bio-Tech, followed by numbers in other books) [Point Cost] and TL

Attractive (45/B21)[4] TL9
Altered Sex Ratio (59) [0] TL9*
Extended Fertility (59) [0] TL9
Increased Fecundity (59) [0] TL9
Light Menses (58) [0] TL9
Sexual Orientation (Bi-Sexual)(59) [0] TL9


Easy Childbirth (58) [0] TL10
Modified Genetic Inheritance (Does not pass Traits on to male children)(59) [0] TL10

Right, the core of this is the Altered Sex Ratio trait, it's basically the whole idea. The Extended Fertility and Increased Fecundity are both the sorts of thing to be expected from such an upgrade, and adding Light Menses whilst making these changes makes a lot of sense. The Sexual Orientation is more the sort of thing that gets thrown in there by someone thinking it's a good idea, probably as some sort of compensation to the girls, or to make the whole thing more livable for everyone.

Easy Childbirth, if available is just a must have on this sort of thing, and given that it's likely to end up making the hips wider and coupled with a breast enhancement you just know someone's going to suggest Attractive makes sense and is likely to be part of a higher TL package. And as for MGI? Well it sort of makes sense, this stuff isn't going to be passed onto guys.

I did consider Extreme Sexual Dimorphism (170) in place of Attractive, but it didn't seem to fit. Likewise Lecherousness was considered, but it also doesn't seem to fit, it's styled for someone who's on the chase, not in a stable relationship.

An alternate version may have a male version which has the Altered Sex Ratio which would make the whole thing self-correcting,

So, thoughts?

[vicky_molokh]

By TL9, you generally don't want humans to gestate at all. You want to buy/build enough exowombs to cover the need. It's generally a better idea to spend $10k on an exowomb and keep using it* than to have humans restricted in terms of both mobility and mentality doing it the old way, particularly when humans are in short supply.

* == Adjust cost for maintenance etc.

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

By TL9, you generally don't want humans to gestate at all. You want to buy/build enough exowombs to cover the need. It's generally a better idea to spend $10k on an exowomb and keep using it* than to have humans restricted in terms of both mobility and mentality doing it the old way, particularly when humans are in short supply.

* == Adjust cost for maintenance etc.

From a standpoint of pure economics, sure. That ignores all other factors of culture, though.

[Anders]

Such as the need to have several hot women wait on you.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by Anders

Such as the need to have several hot women wait on you.

Assuming that exowombs or similar technologies are availible this is probably the only reason to do this.

In practice I suspect that the rate at which a colony can sustainably expand will not be that high and that the last thing you realy want to do even if you are stuck doing things the old fashioned way will be to waste resources turning more than half of your potential workforce into baby factories.

Even doubling the population every generation or so only realy needs an yearly growth rate c3%. Given contemporary life expectencies that isn't exactlyy going to require a massive total fertility rate.

(Posting from tablet, so my spelling etc may be all over the place. Sorry.)

[Ashtagon]

If your goal is to increase birth rate, why would you want to make them bisexual? At best, that's a non-factor.

Also, unless you're messing around with humans on a truly fundamental level (to the extent that fertility with unmodified humans would be questionable), the sex ratio would be something determined through the father, not the mother.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Ashtagon

If your goal is to increase birth rate, why would you want to make them bisexual? At best, that's a non-factor.

Probably because high birth rate is only one desired factor, another being a relatively peaceful colony, instead of the female overpopulation catfighting over male attention. If almost all the women are bisexual, they'll feel less need to "secure" a male lover, and so there'll be less rivalry.

[DemiBenson]

Originally Posted by Ashtagon

If your goal is to increase birth rate, why would you want to make them bisexual? At best, that's a non-factor.

Also, unless you're messing around with humans on a truly fundamental level (to the extent that fertility with unmodified humans would be questionable), the sex ratio would be something determined through the father, not the mother.

See "cryptic female choice". Females of most species have more to do with sex determination than you'd think.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Probably because high birth rate is only one desired factor, another being a relatively peaceful colony, instead of the female overpopulation catfighting over male attention. If almost all the women are bisexual, they'll feel less need to "secure" a male lover, and so there'll be less rivalry.

Or you could just make them more docile. You know, gentler, more empathic, traits like Compassionate or Low Self-Image or even lower ST and perhaps even Low Pain Threshold.

Or, to maximize docility and step away from the creepiness of what you're inevitably going to create, go with Molokh's option. Rather than treat women as wombs, you can just get wombs. Maximizes human production without minimizing the humanity of your female colonists (I think complaints that exowombs are going to change the social structure too much is nothing compared to having a population of sex-crazed, submissive, sexually attractive baby-factories. Imagine how all those sons will grow up expecting women to behave!)

[Ashtagon]

Originally Posted by DemiBenson

See "cryptic female choice". Females of most species have more to do with sex determination than you'd think.

I admit wikipedia is a poor to middling introduction at best, but it seems this choice is more about determining which male gets to be the father, than about the female being able to sense the gender of the foetus (consciously or not) and abort (or not) on that basis.