Passing on your genes motivates everything you do?

[serenissima]

Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature

"Men have had to conquer foreign lands, win battles and wars, compose symphonies, author books, write sonnets, paint cathedral ceilings, make scientific discoveries, play in rock bands, and write new computer software in order to impress women so that they will agree to have sex with them."

A very "selfish genes" explanation of many behavioral phenomena. I think this article oversimplifies human behavior a great deal, but it makes some interesting points.

Comments

[daisho.livejournal.com]

I thought the 'Islamic suicide bombers result from polygyny' suggestion was particularly suspect, given that, you know, there are a significant number of female suicide bombers.

I also find myself wondering if the genetic assumptions being made could possibly be true, given time-spans of only a few hundred years at most between people families becoming wealthy and their descendants having lots of sons. It just doesn't seem long enough for natural selection to take effect to a significant degree, given that we're still 97 per cent chimpanzee, after two million years of divergent evolution.

Some interesting points, as you say, but I find myself taking most of them with a significant pinch of salt, not because I don't believe humans are selfish (we undoubtedly are) but because it seems implausible for that to have had as significant effect on our physiology as is being suggested.

[eredien]

I found that article racist, and demeaning of both men and women. If you'd like me to go into detail I'd be happy to, but I think if you think about their conclusions for even a second you'll see where they start to unravel.