Review of THE MATING MIND Geoffrey Miller (Doubleday)
© Donald Richardson, March, 2006
The central thesis of
this book can be summed up by the adage "Man proposes, woman
disposes".
Miller reports that evolutionary psychologists have been reassessing
Charles Darwin's 1871 book, The Descent of Man, in particular
recognising that its full title added and Selection in Relation
to Sex. It details the role sex has played in evolution -
the other side of natural selection, which was covered in The
Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Natural
selection relates to species evolution and survival, whereas
sexual selection is about courtship and mating within a species.
They are two sides of the same coin. However, discussion of sex
and - in particular - the recognition that coupling results from
the choice of the female, not the male - was so offensive to
Darwin's contemporaries that the concept was discounted for over
a century. It is appropriate that it should resurface as the
bicentenary of Darwin's birth in 1809 approaches.
Sexual selection also implies that polygamy is the state of nature,
a fact that has been denied in the Christian West (although not
by the East) but which is now becoming accepted as the universal
norm due to the sexual exploits of various presidents, rock-stars
and sportsmen - and, of course, the willing connivance of their
partners.
But, according to Miller, sexual selection is particularly relevant
to the development of the human mind. He notes that the
brain of Homo sapiens tripled in size about two million
years ago. This growth predates the development and use of tools
and Miller proposes - plausibly - that it is due to the development
of social skills related to mating. This includes not only language
but also other such purely human things as intelligence, manners,
morality, humour and art. Different individuals display these
traits in varying degrees, which gives a female a wide range
from which to choose the most 'attractive' mate for her - basically
an aesthetic choice. The reason females do the choosing is that
they invest so much time and energy in pregnancy and with a neonate.
At one level, of course, none of this will be news to women;
but what is startlingly new is the scientific recognition of
the role of female choice in the development of the total of
human mental propensities - and it makes fascinating reading
(not too difficult either).
That sexual selection requires display by males is most obvious
in creatures like the peacock, and it is a paradoxical fact that,
when the bird's long tail is in display, he is less able to flee
a predator. Hence, there is a tension between natural and sexual
selection; but their coexistence over the aeons proves Miller's
thesis. Human males display through demonstrating their wealth,
power, intelligence, resourcefulness or creativity, many of which
accomplishments are as profligate of the energy needed for survival
as is the peacock's strutting. This justifies expensive engagement
rings as well as simple bouquets; also Hollywood movies and art.
The profligacy of courtship is what makes it romantic, Miller
says.
Human mating is akin to marketing and advertising because the
mind is more like an amusement park than a computer. The entire
process is mediated by the senses - particularly the visual -
which disposes us to the development of art. On a more basic
level, Miller hypothesises that sexual display may have inclined
us to bipedalism as both the penis and the breast are optimally
displayed by the upright stance. On the other hand, females kept
their primary sexual organ concealed because their pleasure is
internalised and related to conception.
Miller adduces as evidence for his thesis that most artists have
been men whose peak production was at a time in their lives when
they were most sexually active. Interestingly, this dove-tails
with another recent - and controversial - theory, that of Camille
Paglia (Sexual Personae, Penguin, 1991), which avers that
women do not need to display through making art because they
are more psychologically complete than men are.
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