The Mating mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature

Why have humans evolved such costly and complex brains? And further, why do we use our brains to produce such seemingly useless behaviors as art or music? Evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller suggests that the reason might lie in what he considers to be Darwin’s most significant contribution to evolution: sexual selection. Sexual selection is different than natural, or “survival” selection, which refers to environmental factors such as climate or predators that affect reproductive success. Sexual selection is much more direct and potentially powerful; it is shaped by the mate preferences of the opposite sex. For these reasons, Miller believes that the inherently awesome power of sexual selection has profoundly affected the equally awesome trajectory of our own species mental evolution through mate choice. The Mating Mindprovides a thorough analysis of how this devil lurks in the details.