Rating: 
Summary: A Literary Masterpiece
Review: Geoffrey Miller is a wonderful writer, fully in command of the theory and evidence in evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, and animal behavior. He is also widely read in the arts and popular culture. He has a fertile imagination and a creative bent that makes reading his ideas a real pleasure. This book is, as they say, "a good read."But is it correct? Miller tries to explain the mystery of human intellect and creativity. Why would a creature (us) who evolved under the most primitive of material conditions, who lacked even sedentary agriculture until 10,000 years ago, have evolved the mental capacity for beauty, wit, rhythm, and truth? His answer is: sexual (as opposed to survival) selection. In short we are smart and talented because women preferred to mate with smart and talented men. There is a problem, however. There are two theories of sexual selection: runaway selection (associated with Darwin and Ronald Fisher), and the handicap principle (Zahavi). Most of Miller's arguments require the former (although he formally disavows this early in the book), while the latter is probably the only plausible model of sexual selection. For instance, the idea that we have large brains because women prefer intelligent men, even if intelligence imposes a fitness cost on men, is plausible only if intelligence is a signal of a superior fitness in some other hidden area (e.g., a lower parasite load). But I cannot think of one such area, nor does Miller supply one. Intelligence may have direct fitness benefits for humans, but that is NOT sexual selection, but straightforward selection for survivability. In short, I think Miller is wrong, and I know there is no quantitative evidence for his 'just-so story,' but I loved the book anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: More science, Less PC
Review: Geoffrey Miller presents compelling evidence in this book for just how complex and efficient evolution really is. The concept he presents is one of those theories that because it is difficult to dismiss on logical grounds, is treated with less than the acclaim it deserves. As T.S. Eliot said, people are not fond of too much reality. Sexual selection answers most of the difficult questions about altruism towards strangers, art, music, and other kinds of behavior that do not confer some sort of survival benefit.
That said, my chief complaint about this book is that Miller professes to believe in the objectivity of science; in its blindness to subjective human fears, wishes, etc. However, the book becomes nearly unreadable in places where it grinds to a halt with glaringly obvious kow-towing and back peddling to political correctness, sometimes contradicting what he has just put forth. Unfortunately, rap "musicians" do not share a poetic ability with Shakespeare. Men are ridiculed and presented almost as buffoons, yet every reference to women would make a radical feminist proud. Western civilization comes under the gun for the same tired, worn out resentment about cultural imperialism, colonialism, etc. Why the self-hatred? If science is his main aim, Miller should leave his politics for another project: it has nearly ruined this one for me.
Rating:
Summary: The sexiest nonfiction book I have read yet!
Review: I could not put this book down. Any student in psychology or biology should read this book. Any man who would like to understand the underlying reasons of what works on the flirtation market should read this book. This book was down right sexy. Do not start reading it with modern societies' moralities in mind. What it means to be human and human sexuality is a lot older than modern views on sex. This book explores the reasons behind all the things we do in order to "get some". A wonderfully informative read. The only reason I did not give 5 stars was that I was looking for more specific information gleaned from specific studies. Some readers may not need that but I was looking for it. I love it that my favorite book "Clan of the Cave Bear" was cited. (Not in a supporive way but I was still glad to see it mentioned anyway.)
Rating: 
Summary: The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution...
Review: I started following Geoffrey Miller's work 6 years ago when all that was available was his PHd thesis and some journal articles which I found original and entralling. The Mating Mind, Miller's first book, lives up to the ideas first discussed in his thesis but now presented in a more focussed yet relaxed fashion. Miller makes clear an argument the humans evolved according to sexual selection, an suggestion that Darwin first proposed in Descent of Man. Males and females picking each other for specific attributes drove, through sexual selection, an evolution of human features including brain size increases, sexual organ characteristics and human behaviors. It is an evocative story, and one that may even be supported by recent studies in neurological disorders characterized by maturational delay. If the engine behind Miller's runaway sexual selection is a slowing down in maturation rates (neoteny) revealed in the fossil record by a decrease in sexual dimorphism, then the neurological, physiological and behavioral tendencies of humans with disorders characterized by maturational delay should reveal the kind of human the Miller describes as transitional to modern times. It is not often that an evolutionary theory uncovers an opportunity to reveal clues about our origin in the present day. Miller's theory does this. Kudos to an original and well thought out exposition.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent. One of the best books ever written.
Review: If you agree with Darwin, this book will change your
prespective about what a human being is. Read it, keep
it in a safe place, and recommend
your best friends to buy their own copy. Clearly written,
well documented, easy to read but scientific (many
references to the original research papers are provided). If you do not agree with evolution theory, and you still belive that we have been creadted as we are, read it as well.
Unless you are afraid to change your mind !
Rating:
Summary: Miller's Mating Mind Makes Sense
Review: Psychologist Geoffrey Miller takes on Darwin's long ignored theory of sexual selection and gives it new life. In this book written for the general audience he uses the theory to explain all that natural selection could not and does it in a way that is most entertaining. According to Miller, all those qualities that animals and humans possess that do not give them an obvious survival benefit will only continue in future generations if they provide a reproductive advantage. The author gives several examples from the animal world as well as the human world to explain bird song,insect dance, peacock tails,and human physical traits as well as behavior.Miller claims we are attracted to beauty, youth and energy because people possesing these qualities are more likely to be fertile and have healthier offspring. Creativity,humor,athletic ability,and intelligence were all traits selected as desirable in males by African females long ago and that is why these qualities are with us today.According to Miller, we do it all for love and those animals that perform well and/or look healthy will be judged the fittest and will most likely be chosen to pass on their genes.I found most of Miller's ideas completely plausible and believe some of them testable. However, I am curious as to why human female adornment was not mentioned more. Overall The Mating Mind is a marvelous book. It explains human behavior so obviously you will kicking yourself for not figuring it out yourself. Kimberly Caldwell Evolutionary Psychologist in the Making :)
Rating: 
Summary: as informative as phrenology
Review: the author of this book can join his forefathers who propagated the ideas about phrenology. his theories are biased and akin to lobotomy. but I am sure any budding young racialist or rascist or the sort can garner inspiration from his book and for that reason I will be gentle with my criticism, since I see that the author is a human being and must eat and therefore is making his bread the best twisted way he knows. the author has no basis for his theories and they are no better than mere suggestions. I would be ashamed to call his research science, even sorcery is more refined a practice than this work of a bigot and biased liar.
Rating:
Summary: A scholarly collection of ideas
Review: This book has a Glossary in which Holocene is defined as "The geological era from 10.000 years ago to the present." (p. 441). As far as civilized society goes, that is a period which did for human beings what a far more ancient period did for bees and ants. There is no guide to pronunciation, but we might assume that it is not quite pronounced the same as hollow scene, an empty stage on which an audience expects something to happen, more or less civilized, depending on how popular a particular production has been. In very intellectual circles, it might be suspected that THE MATING MIND by Geoffrey F. Miller is the most highly scientific book on "How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature," as the subtitle puts it. To find harem in the index, you can check "harem system of single-male polygyny, 76, 183" but you will find more if you also look under polygyny, where there is an entry for "runaway sexual selection and, 74, 98, 195." Harems don't always happen, but "To describe our ancestors as following mating patterns like `moderate polygamy' and `serial monogamy' is just a useful shorthand for identifying these sexual selection pressures." (p. 195). Chapter 3, The Runaway Brain (pp. 68-98), compares the speed at which the human brain grew from the size common in apes with the speed at which the tails of a flock of birds would grow if the most fertile females prefer the male bird with the longest tail. Long before the Holocene era, people who were fertile might have been more prone to rapid genetic change than we have observed lately because "One possible problem is that runaway sexual selection demands polygyny--a mating pattern in which some males mate with two or more females. For runaway to work, some males must prove so attractive that they can copulate with several females to produce several sets of offspring." (p. 74). Miller imagines this is likely to be driven by the sexual attractiveness of the male, but by the time we get to harems, I think my high school Latin teacher might have been closer to the mark when she told her class, "When the wolf is at the door, love goes out the window." As long as sex has been subject to a society's ideas about proper social standing or morality, women have been pawns who tend to end up with whichever male has the means to support a family. Modern governmental efforts to collect child support from fathers who fled the family nest reflect how strongly the upper levels of a social structure believe in saddling its male pawns with financial obligations that conform to rigid economic patterns that would be a natural result of monogamous pairing. History includes examples of the opposite. "The first emperor of China reputedly had a harem of five thousand. King Moulay Ismail of Morocco reputedly produced over six hundred sons by his harem." (p. 76). "For millions of years, there was enough variation in male reproductive success to potentially drive runaway sexual selection during human evolution." (p. 76). Even European societies experienced times when many women died in childbirth, and prosperous men might be expected to have a succession of wives who would be useful for raising the children as well as having more. Some crazy book about Hitler's family even suggested that he came from an area of Europe where only a minority of peasants married. When society puts a financial hurdle in the way of men who might otherwise choose a mate, a child born out of wedlock can easily produce suppositions about a small group of people who have known each other for a long time like the idea, for example, that Hitler's father (or maybe only his uncle) was also Hitler's grandfather. Assuming that Hitler's mother was a young woman who had worked as a servant in the family of the man she subsequently married, is it still possible that Hitler's father was the illegitimate son of a woman who worked for a Jewish family until she became pregnant? Then Hilter's other grandfather could have been Jewish, and laws against Germans working as servants for Jews were the proper German defense against such biological repetition of the Amalakite linkage of Eliphaz son of Esau and his concubine Timna in Genesis 36:12. This is not quite the same as thinking that servants were harems, as Jacob's turned out to be in Genesis 35:22. Nietzsche did not have any biological children, but there is a section called "Sexual Selection and Nietzsche." (pp. 337-339). It might be easier to understand the six index entries for "Machiavellian intelligence theory" or to imagine that Nietzsche was the first philosopher who would totally agree with the point, "Plato and Hegel derogated art for failing to deliver the same sort of truth that they thought philosophy could produce. They misunderstood the point of art." (pp. 282-283). People who would criticize THE MATING MIND from the point of view of some morality might be misunderstanding something about the humor of history regarding sex. I'm giving this book a high rating because it is willing to consider a multiplicity of factors in a scientific context in which theory is only meaningful if it relates to some form of behavior. Comic societies will end up being most knowledgeable about sex because sex is more comic than any convention that society has ever been able to impose, and the Holocene is as good an example of diversity as any that I am aware of.
Rating:
Summary: A Seductive--literally--Thrill Ride...
Review: This book, whether you agree with the author's thesis or not, is an absolutely fascinating piece of work. I loved every single page. His ideas may sound far fetched but the evidence is always there and its always sound. Also, he has a very impressive bibliography if one were prompted to do further reading on this subject. He draws on everything from current pop culture to ancient arabian myths to every day human behavior to the newest and most ground breaking experiments in evolutionary psychology. Even if one is not in any scientific field (I'm a history major) I believe that any objective human being should read this book. ANd even if you don't agree with it it's outright fun. However how popped up it is doesn't take away from its significance about Darwin's SECOND theory. Many people do not believe that sexual selection could be so encompassing I believe he could be right. Many people gave me grief about even reading this because it apparently goes against the book of Genesis... as I said any OBJECTIVE human being should read this! It will totally change your perspective about any kind of human interaction and about life in general.
Rating:
Summary: Why diamonds instead of potatoes?
Review: When Darwin published The Descent of Man in 1872, he raised the issue of why so many species' males invest costly physical resources in sexual displays. His answer was the mating game. Peacock's tails are difficult to lug around, use material that might be better applied elsewhere in the body, and make the bird susceptible to predation. Darwin's answer was the cost was a mating investment - peahens clearly preferred males with the most outstanding displays. Monkeys in the forests and swamp frogs expend similar energy in calling over great distances seeking mates. The females of these species listen, weighing some unknown factor in deciding which male to select to bear their offspring. Can such a strategy be applied to human mating practices?
Geoffrey Miller's answer is a resounding "Yes!" Humans, however, are far more complex than peacocks. In this book, Miller contends that instead of garish tails or mating calls, it is the human brain that provides the mechanisms for mate selection. Like the peacock's tail, the human brain is a costly organ - using 20% of our resources even when resting. Why is the brain so demanding? It has many jobs to do, memory, vision, controlling motion and speech and directing other activities. The human mind's most impressive abilities, Miller states, are "courtship tools, evolved to attract and entertain sexual partners." These "tools" include such seemingly disparate practices as sports, poetry, art and literature. Many of these factors in our lives are the result of language development. Why did these talents evolve, and how do they affect our mate selection? Where some animals offer food as a mating incentive, men offer diamonds, songs or prose. Why not offer something to eat, like a potatoe, instead of a diamond, which lacks practical value?
Miller's argument focusses on "fitness factors" in mating strategies. In humans these are far more complex than in the rest of animal kingdom. In his view, the factors must be mainly expressed by the male, and by adults more than the young. They must be elements that can be judged by females before mating, and the more vivid the presentation, the more likely the mating will be. In human societies, the presentation may not even be displayed by the male, but may be "purchased" - hence, movies, concerts, art objects may be bought in the pursuit of females instead of actually created by the suitor.
And what of the suitor's object of his quest? Are human females simply gawking airheads waiting to see which male displays or buys the best offering in the mating game? Far from it, contends Miller. He makes the claim that will be hotly contested by feminazis, that historically, males predominate in literature, the arts and business. Recognizing that female cognitive skills match those of human males, he argues that the female mind had to evolve in parallel with that of males'. However, their skills reside in assessing the worth of what males are offering. They must make the judgement of which "fitness factors" are the most attractive. Hence, if men developed language ability to "show off" their creativity, women evolved the ability to evaluate how skillfully the men performed. Miller's analysis is not empty rhetoric. He reviews a broad range of behaviour patterns, attributing to each the evolutionary roots likely involved in developing them.
Miller's prose skills are outstanding in this valuable survey. His use of metaphor keeps you smiling as he presents his case. He transforms a Satin Bowerbird into an effete artist at one point. This comical account has the bird, expressing himself just as a Letterman guest might, explaining why the bower nest is under constant niggling attention by the male until its arrangement successfully attracts a mate. It's indicative of Miller's high quality imagination. Make no mistake, however, this book isn't just a frolic promoting Miller's abilities as a raconteur. His message is serious, and what he's proposed requires serious reflection. His thesis explains many facets of the human condition and must be considered earnestly. You may even find something of yourself in this book, which is as good a reason to buy it as any. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
|
