As long as organized religion has any influence on society, non-monogamy is going to be seriously frowned on by the majority of people you encounter. If you are in a non-monogamous relationship (myself included), you probably realize most poly relationships happen almost by chance as opposed to something you reach out and look for - at least for your first poly experience. In my case, my spouse and I have always been comfortable with an open relationship sexually and have shared an open relationship for over a decade- however, when she met her current girlfriend, and then fell in love with her, we gradually morphed into a poly relationship - but it wasn't planned and we had no idea what we were doing. It takes lots of commitment, and lots of patience, and there really isn't any room for intense jealous feelings - or the whole relationship is doomed.

I expect that monogamy will survive as a kink, but polygamy will be the dominant practice. I imagine STD's may also play a significant role in determining how reserved we are about physical intimacy.

It takes a certain kind of person to be in open or poly-amorous relationships. I think with the many tastes and preferences that exist within the human psyche, there is a place for both polyamory and monogamy to both live on throughout much mankind's future.

I believe it has more to do with the cultural level of influence rather than pure evolution. Most African nations recognize polygamous marriages, as do many of the middle eastern countries. That said I cannot speak to the quality of life for many of the women in such countries. I do not know without sufficient research but I'd make a good bet that their freedoms are much less and are considered possession rather than partners. If you want to see religious/mythological comparisons Hindu, Greek, and Chinese. there are others as well those are the ones that simply sprang to mind. And now at least for us in the United States, its a matter of social upbringing vs personal preference. Also I believe there would be a conflict of love. What one's idea of love would greatly affect how capable they even are of maintaining open/poly relationships.

In hebrew, the word for owner and husband are the same. in some places in the world, bloodlines are still a means of deciding inheritance. we have, and continue to live in a world of conflict between what we discover throughout human history, and what we hold as absolute values. monogamy as a value has dominated human society for most of its history. whether to ensure blood or economic unity through families, or as a means of a religious institution to hold control over a persons life. the relevance it has depends of the relevance of the institutions that promote it. if they did not exist, would we, as far as we have progressed in our understanding of human behavior, remain monogamous? I do not believe so. is there really one "one", in a population of over 7 billion people?

Monogamy will live on as a standard but at the same time they will still be poly just behind the back as it's always been. We are animals after all and some have a tendency to feel those primal instincts on a constant in or out of a monogamous relationship. Jealousy has become pretty well hardwired into our brains by now. interrupt the feel good chemicals your significant other gives you by finding out there is someone else and boom jealousy will rear it's head. :: Shrug:: just my thoughts on it.

What a great question!

I agree with you - to an extent. As society progresses out of antiquated (and often religious or religious-based) views of sex and relationships I can’t help but believe that polyamory will become more and more accepted. Perhaps it will even become the norm.

That said, I don’t see monogamy being relegated to the sidelines any time soon. As emotional and often selfish/self-serving/jealous creatures, humans have a long long way to go before replacing monogamy with a more open standard. Even people like myself who don’t see a moral imperative in monogamy often prefer it.

So: polyamory being more common? Certainly. Standard? Perhaps. Exclusive/expected? Highly unlikely.

What a well structured question, I don't have a yes or no answer for you though. however we have evolved as social animals and it benefited social order to be/act monogamous it is not unreasonable to think that as a society changes that also if it increases birthrates, childrens survival and it's a genetic trait to be poly then potential over enough time it could become the norm. I do think that the urge to carry forth your own dna and seek its protection is a powerful thing and so from a male perspective brought up in the society I have been in, I find it unlikely. We're a complex species.