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Alan S. Miller
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Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters: From Dating, Shopping, and Praying to Going to War and Becoming a Billionaire-- Two Evolutionary Psychologists Explain Why We Do What WeDo Kindle Edition

by Alan S. Miller (Author), Satoshi Kanazawa (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 290 ratings
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Now available in paperback?a provocative new look at biology, evolution, and human behavior ?as disturbing [as it is] fascinating? (Publishers Weekly).

Why are most neurosurgeons male and most kindergarten teachers female? Why aren?t there more women on death row? Why do so many male politicians ruin their careers with sex scandals? Why and how do we really fall in love? This engaging book uses the latest research from the field of evolutionary psychology to shed light on why we do the things we do?from life plans to everyday decisions. With a healthy disregard for political correctness, Miller and Kanazawa reexamine the fact that our brains and bodies are hardwired to carry out an evolutionary mission? an inescapable human nature that actually stopped evolving about 10,000 years ago.
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    September 4, 2007
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

That mouthful of a title says it all. According to Kanazawa, a media-savvy researcher whose studies of beautiful people have been covered by the BBC and the New York Times, and the late Miller, a professor of social psychology, evolutionary psychology explains almost everything about human behavior. Proponents of what they call the Standard Social Science Model believe that the human mind is exempt from biological pressures, while evolutionary psychologists hold that people are an animal species driven by animal needs. The authors suggest that human evolution stopped when agriculture began changing the world much faster than the world could change us, and now 10,000-year-old impulses to find the right mate and produce healthy offspring control nearly every aspect of our existence, from choosing jobs to religious belief. This accessible book opens the youthful field of evolutionary psychology wide for examination, with results often as disturbing as they are fascinating. (Sept. 4)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

A powerful jump-starter for conversations about the nature of being human.
"Seattle Post-Intelligencer"
A rollicking bit of pop science.
"Los Angeles Times"
An exuberant, accessible, exhilarating, intellectually aerobic workout.
David P. Barash, author of "Madame Bovary s Ovaries"

aA powerful jump-starter for conversations about the nature of being human.a
a"Seattle Post-Intelligencer"
aA rollicking bit of pop science.a
a"Los Angeles Times"
aAn exuberant, accessible, exhilarating, intellectually aerobic workout.a
aDavid P. Barash, author of "Madame Bovaryas Ovaries"

?A powerful jump-starter for conversations about the nature of being human.?
?"Seattle Post-Intelligencer"

?A rollicking bit of pop science.?
?"Los Angeles Times"

?An exuberant, accessible, exhilarating, intellectually aerobic workout.?
?David P. Barash, author of "Madame Bovary's Ovaries"



That mouthful of a title says it all. According to Kanazawa, a media-savvy researcher whose studies of "beautiful people" have been covered by the BBC and the New York Times, and the late Miller, a professor of social psychology, evolutionary psychology explains almost everything about human behavior. Proponents of what they call "the Standard Social Science Model" believe that the human mind is exempt from biological pressures, while evolutionary psychologists hold that people are an animal species driven by animal needs. The authors suggest that human evolution stopped when agriculture began changing the world much faster than the world could change us, and now 10,000-year-old impulses to find the right mate and produce healthy offspring control nearly every aspect of our existence, from choosing jobs to religious belief. This accessible book opens the youthful field of evolutionary psychology wide for examination, with results often as disturbing as they are fascinating. ("Publishers Weekly")

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000UZQHN4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ TarcherPerigee (September 4, 2007)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 4, 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 634 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 284 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 290 ratings

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Alan S. Miller

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
290 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Adam
5.0 out of 5 stars Curious about evolutionary psychology? Get this book. It's fun and easy to read.
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2022
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Most of this book was written by Satoshi Kanazawa, not Alan Miller who sadly passed away during its composition. Either way, it is an excellent source of information about evolutionary psychology. Kanazawa may not be politically correct, but he hits the mark almost every time. Were there a few points that I disagreed with? Sure. Did he draw a few conclusions that may require further investigation? Probably. But the bulk of this book draws conclusions that make abundant sense to me.

The best thing about this work is that it's so easy to read. The language is perfectly understandable for the average literate American adult. I recommend reading each chapter in order, but you don't have to. Most of the chapters are self-contained units and Kanazawa reviews key concepts from time to time throughout.

Most of the book deals with the central concerns of evolutionary psychology, namely dating, mating, relations between the sexes, and the evolutionary basis for human behavior. So if you're uncomfortable with this topic, then obviously this book won't be for you. Also be aware that this book was written during the peak "War on Terror" years during the mid-2000s, and so some of the political references may seem outdated for readers in the 2020s. (This is such a minor issue, but if you're going to write a review you have to let people know what to expect.) I found literally every page of it to be fascinating regardless, and I plan to purchase other works by Kanazawa soon.
2 people found this helpful
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M. Steidemann
5.0 out of 5 stars Great intro to EvoPsych for beginners
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2024
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This was the first book I ever read on Evolutionary Psychology and it started a whole new interest in my life that explained so much of what I saw around me in the world. Read at your own risk! ;)

Like Freakonomics you can read this book by chapter in any order.
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John Green Burford, IV
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, Although A Little Overzealous
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2014
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WHAT I LIKED:

1. The book is written in an easy-to-read style. That, and the fact that the topics are both interesting and controversial, makes the book a quick and enjoyable read.

2. I like the evolutionary psychology approach in general, since it proposes actual mechanisms behind why people think and behave how they do.

3. I liked that the book pointed out some facets of human sexual behavior that still aren't well-understood, and should be targeted for future research. For instance, why most people in advanced nations choose to have way fewer children than they can financially support, even though reproductive behavior is supposed to be unconsciously guided by a desire to have as many children and grand-children as possible.

4. A lot of this book's reviewers criticize it for being sexist, racist, ageist, etc. I think those accusations are unfounded--the author repeatedly says that he's simply explaining what IS, not what SHOULD BE. I appreciate that the author explores topics often considered taboo and offers explanations that go beyond "white people brainwash everybody" or "men are jerks."

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

1. The book is a bit over-confident with its application of evolutionary psychology. On a lot of topics, the author examines a strange feature of human behavior, explains how it might make sense given the insights of evolutionary psychology, cites a few pieces of data in support of its position and against the cultural position, and then moves on. So the book doesn't definitively "prove" very much, either by thoroughly supporting its position with a lot of evidence or by thoroughly debunking its opponents with a lot of evidence.

Which is fine, because the book addresses a lot of topics in a small amount of space, and thus can't explore every topic super in-depth. But the author probably should have adapted his "evolutionary psychology can explain pretty much everything" rhetoric accordingly.

2. I found his explanation of the evolutionary origin of religion unconvincing. Given that super-religious people have WAY more children on average than non-religious people, I feel like there's a more compelling evolutionary explanation than people just being risk-averse.

3. Like some of the other reviewers, I think his discussion of why blonde hair and blue eyes are considered more attractive was unconvincing. Given that non-Western peoples didn't encounter blondes until recently, how could they have evolved a preference for them?
The evidence for a evolutionary preference for young, thin-waisted, buxom women was more compelling, so he probably should have just stuck with that.

CONCLUSION

This book is a fun, easy read that examines a lot of interesting topics through the lens of evolutionary psychology. Unfortunately, partly because this book is an introductory book aimed at a popular audience, and partly because hard evidence is rare for some of these topics, sometimes his explanations aren't super well-supported. But overall, I enjoyed and benefited from the book.
14 people found this helpful
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Dan P. Bullard
5.0 out of 5 stars Explains almost everything about human behavior
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2017
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I stumbled across this book working at the Vancouver Washington library Booknook and bought it for a dollar. I loved it so much I couldn't part with it but I wanted my beautiful daughter to have a copy so I ordered it on Amazon and had it shipped to her for Christmas. Kanazawa and Miller did a superb job explaining Evolutionary Psychology, the only theory that explains the entire spectrum of human behaviors. Want to know why being Gay doesn't necessarily mean you will be extinct? Want to know why it's dangerous for female store employees to heap too much attention on male customers? This Q&A book explains it all, and the writing is easy to understand and crystal clear.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Joshua R. Wardell
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Canada on January 12, 2024
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Hard to put this book down
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paul smith
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2020
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Well written and a must read for those who want to
understand why we do the things we do
One person found this helpful
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Giorgio
5.0 out of 5 stars Consigliato 10/10 per capire perchè la nostra societá é com'é
Reviewed in Italy on March 23, 2020
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Ottima lettura
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Amazon Kunde
5.0 out of 5 stars great book
Reviewed in Germany on November 6, 2015
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Very interesting and well written book about evolutionary psychology, especially easy to understand for people who are new to the topic.
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Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing knowledge
Reviewed in Spain on August 25, 2015
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Amazing book! Great insight to make questions we have always thought about but never asked and some never thought about but just as important.
I highly recommend this amazing book
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