Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

The Red Queen begins with a discussion of human nature. In the same way that a surgeon who cuts into a human stomach expects all human stomachs to basically be the same, a psychiatrist can expect to find roughly similar traits among people. Although different in particular aspects, their emotions and behavior are considered similar for all people. All humans can be expected to love, envy, hate, and be motivated by similar types of things. Even New Guinea tribes that are cut off from other civilizations for centuries and live as hunter-gatherers, will smile and respond emotionally in similar ways to Westerners. To understand human nature however, we need to understand where and how it comes from. We need to understand the evolution of human nature. Evolution, at least in humans, relies on sexual reproduction. Hence to understand human nature, we...