The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human NatureDoubleday, 2000 - 503 pages "Evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller shows the evolutionary power of sexual choice and the reasons why our ancestors became attracted not only to pretty faces and healthy bodies, but to minds that were witty, articulate, generous, and conscious. The richness and subtlety of modern psychology help to reveal how the human mind evolved, like the peacock's tail and the elk's antlers for courtship and mating." "Drawing on new ideas from evolutionary biology economics, and psychology, Miller illuminates his arguments with examples ranging from natural history to popular culture, from the art of New Guinea's bowerbirds to the sexual charisma of South Park's school chef. Along the way, he provides insights into the inarticulacy of teenage boys, the diversity of ancient Greek coins, the reasons why Scrooge was single, the difficulties of engaging with modern art, and the function of sumo wrestling."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
From inside the book
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Page 284
... expression of typical human aesthetic tastes concerning other people's artistic displays , and the second seems more of a verbal display in its own right . Elite aesthetics follow the same signaling principles as sexual selection , but ...
... expression of typical human aesthetic tastes concerning other people's artistic displays , and the second seems more of a verbal display in its own right . Elite aesthetics follow the same signaling principles as sexual selection , but ...
Page 420
... expression , attitude , opinion , and ideology . Creative Ideologies Versus Reliable Knowledge Sexual selection for creativity raises some worries about the reliability of human knowledge ... expressed beliefs , 420 THE MATING MIND.
... expression , attitude , opinion , and ideology . Creative Ideologies Versus Reliable Knowledge Sexual selection for creativity raises some worries about the reliability of human knowledge ... expressed beliefs , 420 THE MATING MIND.
Page 422
... expressed through language . Sexual selection usually behaves like an insanely greedy tabloid newspaper editor who deletes all news and leaves only advertise- ments . In human evolution , it is as if the editor suddenly recognized a ...
... expressed through language . Sexual selection usually behaves like an insanely greedy tabloid newspaper editor who deletes all news and leaves only advertise- ments . In human evolution , it is as if the editor suddenly recognized a ...
Other editions - View all
The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature Geoffrey Miller Limited preview - 2001 |
The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature Geoffrey Miller Limited preview - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
ability adaptations advertise aesthetic ancestors animals apparent attractive beauty behavior benefits better biological biologists birds body brain called capacities competition consider costs courtship creativity cultural Darwin developed differences display effects energy evidence evolution evolutionary evolved example explain favor female fitness indicators function genes genetic give happen heritable hominid human human evolution idea important individuals intelligence interest kindness language living look male mate choice means mental mind moral mutations natural selection offspring origins parents Perhaps physical play pleasure Pleistocene possible predict preferences primates principle probably problem produce psychology random reason reciprocity relationships relatives reproductive runaway seems sense sex differences sexual choice sexual ornaments sexual partners sexual reproduction sexual selection shaped signals social species status strategy suggests tails tend theory traits understand University Press usually verbal women York
References to this book
Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution Peter J. Richerson,Robert Boyd Limited preview - 2008 |
Cognition and Emotion: From Order to Disorder Michael J. Power,Tim Dalgleish No preview available - 2008 |