HOW GOOD ARE<br >THE POSSIBILITIES<br > Historian-philosopher Bertrand Russell was mere-<br >ly reporting the history of human mating when he<br >wrote: "Man is not a solitary animal."<br > Since Biblical times (and probably before)， men<br >and women have sought the comfort and com-<br >panionship of the opposite sex ~ for one reason or<br >another， the first mate disappeared， there were<br >often new alliances. So remarriage， or whatever it<br >was ~lled in the particular milieu， has been an in-<br >tegral part of the fabric of many cultures since time<br >immemorial.<br > Perhaps the methods of choosing mates -- first，<br >second and even third -- were different in other<br >eras， but today s mating games are played out in<br >numerous arenas and under many circumstances<br >much different from the selection processes of the<br >past. I doubt if anyone in western cultures now fol-<br >lows the Biblical injunction that a man marry his<br >brother s widow; nor does a father choose his<br >daughter s bridegroom.<br > Maybe empire and politics still have a role in some<br >instances (the few surviving monarchies， for ex-<br >ample)， but even that idea is being relegated to his-<br ><br >