>>148478>>148467>>148468The presenter says that he wants to take time for members of the Hippology department at Jim Haykins to be able to ask questions.
The first question comes from an older mare who asks where the greatest progress is to be made in society. He replies that great progress has been made in legalizing contraceptives in almost every Equestrian jurisdiction. What remains to be done, he claims, is a general attitude shift in the population. In terms of legal changes, he claims that the illegality of abortion in some Equestrian jurisdictions, as well as restrictions on divorce, is where the greatest progress can be made.
A yellow mare in her late 20s, who the presenter states is an alum of the Hippology graduate program of the university, and is a professor in another city.
She tries to argue with the claim that there would be fewer instances of rape, pedophilia, or Changeling succubusism in a more liberalized moral system; she claims rather that moral license would embolden and provide cover to rapists, pedophiles, and Changelings (And yes, she lumps Changelings in the same category as pedophiles), and would create conditions for them to thrive. Totem retorts that such undesirable behaviors result when desires that need expression are not allowed to be satisfied in a controlled manner. The female professor does not agree, but moves on to a different question.
She contests the history presented in the first portion of the lecture. She claims to be familiar with the rites and rituals of the ponies indigenous (pre-Hearthswarming) to the southern portions of the continent. She claims that their indigenous rituals allow for polygyny among nobles including concubines and additional wives, as well as more lax divorce, but otherwise are fairly similar to modern Equestrian standards. He responds that the tribes in question are at an "advanced civilizational stage" and responds that something more like what is described elsewhere occurs in the ancillary Neighua tribes. She retorts that to the best of her knowledge they do not. He brings up a specific example from another cultural group further away, where a culture is said to practice female promiscuity prior to settling down in marriage just the same as in the Salmon islands example. She has to admit the culture in question is out of her field of specialized knowledge, but she does not trust a few anecdotal remarks from outside observers who had reason to lie about what they saw. Like the previous argument, this ends with both sides making claims that can't really be finally verified.
She finally claims a general logical problem with the pattern of sexuality mentioned before, that is, early age female promiscuity, by claiming that in a society where almost the entire population is living at the edge of subsistence, an out of wedlock birth would be certainly fatal to any child. He claims that onanism, timing cycles, and infanticide would resolve the issue, but that in any case they should agree to disagree as they are low on time. The female professor seems to back down for a moment, but then stands back up before being silenced by the presenter.
A graduate student asks a question about some esoteric practice in Griffonia, which Totem has to admit he doesn't know much about. The graduate student takes this opportunity to explain it to the audience. Something about a cup and symbolism, or something.
At this point, the presenter comes back, and says that they are out of time. There is applause from the audience.