Reddit reviews The Red Queen : Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature (Penguin Press Science)

Try to read The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley.

>biological tendency rather than imperative.

It is imperative but it is not a sole imperative that drives men. So the result is given by an equilibrium between imperatives and also by opportunity that is limited by mutual competition of men.

Well you've probably already read Buss' Evolution of Desire and more.

Matt Ridley wrote The Red Queen

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Red-Queen-Evolution-Penguin/dp/0140167722

all these books mention it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Queen-Evolution-Penguin-Science/dp/0140167722/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267074778&sr=8-2


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sperm-Wars-Robin-Baker/dp/0330390775/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267074787&sr=8-2


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mating-Mind-Sexual-Choice-Evolution/dp/038549517X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267074801&sr=8-5


i'm certain richard dawkins talks about it too although i can't remember in what book.

they talk about it on wikipedia too although they're a little ambiguous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist-hip_ratio#Measure_of_attractiveness

Can you really claim to be supprised that our attraction to the opposite sex is largely for evolutionary reasons. If you really think this is not a fact you are no less idiotic then the average creationist.

I know for a fact that the second hypothesis (increased brain size-> increased social complexity) has been put forward by a number of scientists (I'm a psychologist so I' m more into human behaviour and differential traits). I don't remember particular references as I did my degree 6 years ago but I remember books like this, or this had a huge impact on me. For a fact, a huge step in our evolution has been the frontal lobe. It is what facilitates the creation of memories, gives us a clearly defined personality that can be expressed through language and internalizes the moral/ethical/religious rules we live by (it is where the filter for inhibition lives in our brain-to put it very simplistically).

However, let me be devil's advocate for a minute. How do you define intelligence? Sure we have a referential language, we travel at the speed of sound, we have created complicated machines etc. This is not entirely unexpected considering the size of our brain, our opposable thumbs, our physique and biological makeup etc.

However, if intelligence is the ability to adapt in order to maximize survival, is it fair to say that human intelligence is superior to the great apes'? (ex. if you threw me in a jungle I don't think I'd be able to adapt soon enough to survive. That doesn't mean necessarily that I am a stupid human being but to the average great ape I'd look like an absolute idiot!)