Book Review: Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters

This week I had a business trip to San Diego. I'd been to San Diego before, so I didn't extend my stay to check anything out. However, the flight there and back were 5+ hours each so I had plenty of time to get through Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters by A.S. Miller and S. Kanazawa. The book is subtitled "From Dating, Shopping, and Praying to Going to War and Becoming a Billionaire - Two Evolutionary Psychologists Explain We do What We Do."

I've always been a fan of scientific readings and have been aware that the purpose of every living being is to procreate. This book further elaborates how the human species' goal of survival affects our everyday behavior from an evolutionary psychology point of view. The fundamentals of which the entire book is based on is as follows:

Since the purpose of any person is to create a genetic copy of itself, it is in the best interest of men, who are capable of sowing its seads every 15 minutes, to inseminate as many women as possible. The bottom line is that all men care about is having sex with a woman - and the more the better since a single woman can have a child perhaps once every two years. If men are violent, it is because it is competing with other men for the women's attention. If they want to become successful, it is also for the same reason. This man's need to achieve a higher status is necessary because when it comes down to it, it is ultimately the woman's choice whether or not to have sex with the man. There is a greater risk for a woman to sleep with the wrong man (i.e. having a child from him and then getting abandoned), and therefore she will be more selective about whom she will sleep with.

The book of course elaborates in great detail of the various factors that come into play here. For example, it explains why we are really a polygnyous (where the male has more than 1 female partner) society and how that affects behavior. The book is also very honest about the evolutionary reality and is not afraid to speak the controversial or politically incorrect. For example, it explains that human males innately prefer young blonde bombshells and why that is the case. It is a cold hard fact that without the environmental (sociological) pressure to remain monogamous, older women who have reached menopause have no chance of being with a guy. Even societal pressures don't deter a lot of men. Affairs are prevalent throughout history, particularly amongst those who are successful. The only difference today is that it is done more discretely.

Genetics alone does not affect human behavior entirely, but this book does a great job of explaining human tendencies. I think every woman begins to feel the "Oh shit, I better have a baby soon" syndrome as she gets older, and this book makes sense of it all. The only thing I debate at the moment now is whether to go for the more successful guy who can invest more resources into me and my child (since that is what women innately want), but is more likely to be unfaithful. Or do I simply look for a partner to enjoy all that life has to offer with?

Oh, the book also has another interesting theory on why all suicide bombings based on religion is by Muslims. Islamic societies are generally polygynous. This means that while all women have a pretty good chance of reproducing, only men who are successful will. This is because from a woman's perspective, it is better to share one successful man than to be with someone who is undesirable (i.e. too poor to support them, or have bad genes). There are many men in these religion who are reproductive losers so what's the point of living for these guys? Apparently, the koran also promises exclusive access to 72 virgins to martyrs in Islam once they go to heaven. How's that for an incentive?