Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human Behavior

by Bobbi S. Low

Book Overview

Why are men, like other primate males, usually the aggressors and risk takers? Why do women typically have fewer sexual partners? Why is killing infants routine in some cultures, but forbidden in others? Why is incest everywhere taboo? Bobbi Low ranges from ancient Rome to modern America, from the Amazon to the Arctic, and from single-celled organisms to international politics to show that these and many other questions about human behavior largely...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691089752
• ISBN13: 9780691089751
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant, if dense, review of human behavior

Basically, I'm of much the same opinion as most of the other reviewers. It's a thoroughly fascinating book, which actually looks at human behavior as it should be seen: the ecology and interactions of highly inteligent, highly communicate, mostly bald apes. Well worth the read. That said, I must say that without at least some background knowledge in evolutionary biology, you'll find it tough to digest. But such is the way of scientific works, and, frankly, I prefer it as is, rather than loaded down with explanations of things I already know from my classes.Definitely a book worth not only read, but keeping around as a reference.

New book with some new stuff!

The title of this book is a little misleading, because it is an excellent book on evolution in general. That is, it is much broader than the title implies, is very well written, and brings some new perspectives to the subject of human behavior and evolution. It is one of the better books that covers the subject as completely as possible and I would recommend it as an introduction to the subject for the novice or for additional reading for those already versed in the subject.Therefore, rather than giving and overview of the book, I will comment on just a few points Low makes that I found especially interesting. He advances the recent research that has been done on group evolutionary strategies. That is, we have evolved our higher intellect not for dealing with a harsh environment but for the sake of competing with each other. Humans, forming cohesive groups thousands of years ago, cooperated together to compete against other groups. That included genocide, warfare, etc. The smarter and more cohesive the group, the more likely it would win out over the less cohesive or less intelligent group. He also sheds light on our irrationality or our illogical behavior. As a species that evolved in social groups, we are far too responsive to the rare events that we feel threatened by. This means we are quick to pass laws or try to remedy problems that are essentially quite rare but become sensationalized in the press. We as a species are also quick to blame others for their bad behavior based on their flawed character, while our own failures are attributed to circumstances. We have an incredible ability to rationalize our own shortcomings. In addition, we are easily led by people with status, and are easily duped by their explanations of social situations. That is, we believe too readily what we are told by leaders.His covering of war and deception is also rich in explanations and insight. With regards to a one world government he states, "In a major work on the kin selection roots of warfare, after eloquent analysis, the authors are reduced to calling for 'some form of world government, some management force that might stabilize the most immediate threat to humanity --- nuclear destruction.' The entire work, however, is an acknowledgment that the power of in-group amity and out-group enmity would likely force any such world government to be a conquest state, a chilling prospect."It is refreshing to read an evolutionist that both understands our genocidal nature as part of our journey into modernity, but does not fall for the egalitarian solutions that so many of these authors try to put forth to save us. Low understands how such simple solutions will bring us once again into the folds of the totalitarian state.

Excellent analysis of why men and women differ

This is by far the most objective and level-headed expose of evolutionary biology that I have yet encountered. With no apologies to any school of thought, nor any deference to political correctness, Bobbi Low tells the story of human sexuality (the different strategies for reproductive success that men and women employ) the way it happened and continues to happen. There are no great revelations in this book, just excellent scientific analysis of a topic very central to the human condition. This is a book that I would recommend to any inquisitive member of the human race anxious to understand how we have become what we are and where we may be going. Above all, it would be great to put this on the required reading list of all post-pubescents so that they can go through their early sexual years understanding why they behave the way they do and can objectify the storm and stress of this period in their lives a bit better (if that is at all possible). If Bobbi Low writes another book, I am certain to purchase it.

Extraordinarily thorough, authoritative, and current

This book is not as formidable a reading challenge as might be supposed on first perusal. True it is 412 pages long, but the back matter begins with the footnotes on page 258. There follows a glossary, a 57-page bibliography, an author index and a subject index. Also, even though this is clearly an academic tome written by a professional ecologist who is not about to compromise her standing in the scientific community for a shot at popular success, Professor Low nonetheless employs a readable and common sense approach with a minimum of unnecessary jargon. Furthermore, what she has to say is exciting and relevant to our lives, and we can see that she cares as much about communicating to the reader as she does about pleasing colleagues. Reading Why Sex Matters is consequently one very engaging experience.Low, who is a professor of ecology at the University of Michigan, assumes the point of view of an evolutionary biologist as she asks the question, how are men and women different and why? She is particularly focused on how the sexes differentially use resources to further reproduction, and asks which behaviors are ephemeral, due to present conditions, and which are more enduring, having proven adaptive over longer periods of time and in differing environments. She faces squarely the unsettling feeling that some people get when they contemplate humans purely as biological entities--or "critters," to use her expression. As she tells us in the preface, there are three themes guiding her work: One, "resources are useful in...survival and reproduction"; two, "the sexes...differ in how they...use resources"; and three, "each sex accomplishes these ends" by reacting to the environment differently. The result of this structured approach is a clear introductory course in sexuality from an evolutionary point of view, and a fascinating read.Because Low employs resources from a wide variety of disciplines, including sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, behavioral genetics, ecology, anthropology, sociology, biology, history, etc., not to mention pop culture and world literature, her work is highly persuasive in a scientific sense. And because she studiously avoids squabbling among the disciplines, her work is psychologically compelling. There is material on cultural transmissions as well as natural selection. Demographers are given currency along with evolutionary biologists. One gets the sense that she has read just about everything and has thoroughly evaluated what she has read. Particular interesting to me is her discussion of the tangled origins of sexuality and the (non-obvious) nature of altruism. The chapters on warfare, "Sex, Resources, and Early Warfare," and "The Ecology of Warfare" are worth the price of the book alone. There we see that women warriors are rare because men can gain reproductive advantage through warfare but women cannot (p. 216). Low suggests that war may be an example of "runaway sexual selection" and its practitio

Why Sex Matters

Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human Behavior, by Bobbi Low, is a must read for ANYONE interested in animal behavior, human or otherwise. This is an in depth look through the eyes of an evolutionary biologist at why our world is the way it is, and more importantly, why we humans are the way we are. With a thesis that could be subtitled: "Sex, Power and Resources," the book is principally about the ecology of sex differences - the conditions under which we predict male and female behavior to be more, and less, alike. Low points out (chapters 1-3) that [1] we seldom actually know the genetics of any trait, and [2] mostly what we do is ask: what strategies succeed reproductively in particular environments?In chapters 4-15 she offers a tour de force of the selective pressures that have created the complex behavior of such a species as ours. The exploration of the evolutionary basis for our systems of mate selection, politics, war, cooperation, and resource accumulation make Why Sex Matters such an important book.This book is highly readable, with dozens of tales, quotes and legends that help tie it to the heart of the human condition, but its strength is in leaving myth behind and explaining behavior through the science of ecology. I found the book fascinating and will gladly place it on the same shelf as E.O.Wilson's, On Human Nature, Richard Dawkin's, The Blind Watchmaker, and Jared Diamond's, Guns, Germs & Steel.Thane Maynard, Director of Education, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden