The Seductive Mind. How the Choice of a Sexual Partner Has Influenced the Evolution of Human Nature

The brain helped ancient humans climb to the top of the animal kingdom and create a civilization that is completely incredible from the perspective of all other inhabitants of our planet. Why does this brain need reaction speed or the ability to store and process vast amounts of information – is clear, but what benefit for survival does humor, abstract thinking, or the ability to compose music bring? All these qualities do not affect an individual’s ability to survive, as to kill a mammoth, one does not need to be able to draw it. To successfully pass through the sieve of natural selection, the brain could have been far less complex and sophisticated. So why did it become exactly this way? Scientists still argue about this question, proposing more and more points of view on the principle and history of the evolution of our mind. Some assert that characteristics of the brain, such as the ability to create works of art, are merely a byproduct of the fundamental functions necessary for survival, while others regard art as a “biological dead end” that has no impact on our evolutionary success. Evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller is convinced that this is not the case. Simply put, in addition to natural selection, sexual selection has exerted no less, and sometimes even more, influence on the formation and development of our species. After all, it is important not only to become stronger and smarter than others but also to pass these genes on to your offspring, and for that, one must find a suitable partner and, more importantly, be appealing to that partner.