This post lists the books mentioned in the episode: Why Evolution Favours Beauty Over Survival - Matt Ridley.
Mentioned Books The Moral Animal – Robert Wright The Mating Mind – Geoffrey Miller The Evolution of Beauty – Richard Prum Birds, Sex, and Beauty: The Extraordinary Implications of Charles Darwin’s Strangest Idea – Matt Ridley On the Origin of Species – Charles Darwin The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex – Charles Darwin Various Works by Alfred Russel Wallace – Author Page The podcast centers on Darwin’s lesser-known theory of sexual selection, arguing that mate choice—especially by females—drives the evolution of extravagant traits like bright colors, complex songs, and flamboyant displays, particularly in birds. This process, explored through concepts like Fisherian runaway selection and the sexy son hypothesis, highlights how “hotness” can evolve independently from “fitness,” sometimes even at the cost of survival. The conversation also draws parallels to human behavior, suggesting that traits like humor, creativity, and intelligence may have evolved partly through sexual selection as mental equivalents of peacock tails.
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