Chapter 6 Summary and Analysis

As we have seen in the previous chapters, evolution ultimately cares more about sexual rather than survival success. Of course, one needs to be alive to reproduce and hence natural selection is a perquisite of sexual selection. A large number of traits arise as a result of the two sexes influencing the evolution of the other by selecting certain characteristics in their reproductive partners. This chapter explores some of the ways that females and the environment have shaped human males.

In the beginning, the author argues against two positions that hold that evolution has no effect on human behavior and culture. The first is that all of human behavior is learned and hence, biological evolution will have little effect on the next generation. The author responds that we are not attracted to one person or another and we do not crave...