How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature

The Mating Mind

An intelligently provocative book about Darwin’s ‘other’ theory discusses the curious ways in which sexual attraction has influenced the evolution of the human mind.

Intriguing... The discussion of the mind as a mechanism of attracting mates is fascinating

A refined, an intellectually ingenious, and a very civilised discussion of the possible importance of sexual selection for mental evolution

Flies in the face of evolutionary orthodoxy - proposed by Stephen Jay Gould and others - which suggests that cultures evolve on their own, separate from the evolution of the human mind

Geoffrey Miller studied at Columbia, Stanford, Sussex and Munich Universities and until recently was at University College, London. He now teaches at the University of New Mexico.

An intelligently provocative book about Darwin’s ‘other’ theory discusses the curious ways in which sexual attraction has influenced the evolution of the human mind. 
 
Many aspects of the human mind remain mysterious. While Darwinian natural selection can explain the evolution of most life on earth, it has never seemed fully adequate to explain the aspects of our minds that seem most uniquely and profoundly human - art, morality, consciousness, creativity and language. Yet these aspects of human nature need not remain evolutionary mysteries. 
 
 
Until fairly recently most biologists have ignored or rejected Darwin's claims for the other great force of evolution - sexual selection through mate choice, which favours traits simply because they prove attractive to the opposite sex. But over recent years biologists have taken up Darwin's insights into how the reproduction of the sexiest is as much a focus of evolution as the survival of the fittest. 
 
 
Witty, powerfully-argued and continually thought-provoking, Miller's cascade of ideas bears comparison with such critical books as Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene and Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct. 
 
It is a landmark in our understanding of our own species.

Geoffrey Miller

One of the punchiest evolutionary psychologists now publishing ... a major work of subversion ... it couldn't be more timely

Intelligent, engaging, exasperating and funny

Evolutionary psychology is a young discipline, but Miller, a professor at the University of New Mexico, is using it to shed light on consumer behaviour in a capitalist world, as he believes blunt instruments have been used to examine it in the past

His cost-benefits analyses of showoffery are pure logic, cool, and witty with it, and in the end, add up to an intelligent programme to shift human signalling systems toward more enjoyable forms of display that wont cost us the Earth

A thought-provoking analysis of how marketing really works and it's relationship to our ancient psychological traits

The Hidden Instincts Behind Everything We Buy

Why do we buy? What is it that governs our choice of car? How does advertising really work? And what can the story of Aladdin teach us about today's world? 
 
In this brilliantly original, provocative and witty book, Geoffrey Miller - acclaimed author of The Mating Mind - takes us on a journey through the surreal wonderlands of marketing, advertising, and media to explore the hidden instincts behind our choices. Combining this with the latest developments in evolutionary psychology, genetics and consumer research, he explains why we buy what we buy and how we can escape the excesses of twenty-first century consumerism.

Must-Have

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

Join our newsletter for 10% off at the Penguin Shop

Tempting Venom

80,000 Hours

A Taste For Murder

The Make-Believe

Geoffrey Miller

Praise for Must-Have

Frankly gripping

Ingenious, and brilliantly argued

One of the punchiest evolutionary psychologists now publishing ... a major work of subversion ... it couldn't be more timely

Frankly gripping

Ingenious, and brilliantly argued

One of the punchiest evolutionary psychologists now publishing ... a major work of subversion ... it couldn't be more timely

Frankly gripping

Ingenious, and brilliantly argued

One of the punchiest evolutionary psychologists now publishing ... a major work of subversion ... it couldn't be more timely

Books by Geoffrey Miller

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter