Evolution: Basic Principles
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Transcript of Evolution: Basic Principles
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Evolution: Basic PrinciplesEvolution: Change over time; decent with
modificationNatural Selection: Primary mechanism
producing evolution (change over time). There are other mechanisms such as: sexual selection, social selection, drift.
Basic principles of NS:1. Variability: stuff varies2. Heritability: variation is passed on
genetically3. Competition: limited resources4. Selection: some variations are
advantageous in securing limited resources and tend to passed on more than others = change over time
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Sexual selection
Some traits may actually be detrimental to survival but provide an advantage in mating.
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Sexual selection: intra-sexual competition
• Typically male-male competition for mates, resources, and status.
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Intra-sexual coalitional competition
• Chimpanzees are especially well-known for forming male coalitions to challenge other males for dominance.
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Evolutionary basis for male competition
• Gamete size (cheap sperm vs. expensive eggs)
• Parental investment (mating vs. parenting effort)
• Parental certainty (paternal vs. maternal certainty)
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Social Selection
• Some traits help animals get along better in their social groups which in turn increases their survival and reproduction. Ex: more socially skilled female baboons tend to have more surviving offspring.
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Female competition
• Usually less one on one physical than male competition. Typically relational, social exclusionary, sexually targeted.
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Human mate attraction: Long term mates• Males: young, beautiful,
sexually modest• Reproductive value;
paternity certainty
• Females: older, high-status (or potential), robust
• Good genetics, stable secure source of resources,
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Brain and social selection
• Larger groups select for more neocortex.
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Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature
1. Men like blond bombshells (and women want to look like them)
• Why? Beauty is a indicator of fertility. Blonde is an indicator of honest signally (modesty)
• See my webpage for full discussion• Excerpted from Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters, by Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa, to be published by
Perigree in September 2007.
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2. Humans are naturally polygamous
• Males want harem of young fertile females
• Females want good genes and lots of resources
• However both want some reproductive success more than none so both usually have to compromise (monogomy)
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• 3. Most women benefit from polygyny, while most men benefit from monogamy
• Females: Better to have 10% of Bill Gates than 100% of Homer Simpson
• Males: share the babes!
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• 4. Most suicide bombers are Muslim
• Polygyny increases ‘loser’ males• Islam promises loser males
reproductive success in afterlife
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• 5. Having sons reduces the likelihood of divorce
• Resources/status inheritance more critical for son’s reproductive success (reproductive variance)
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• 6. Beautiful people have more daughters
• Beauty is a more valuable trait for female reproductive success than for male, especially among lower economic status couples (Trivers-Willard Hypo). Good-looking, non-rich couples tend to have more females. (I have four daughters, beauty + lower status)
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7. What Bill Gates and Paul McCartney have in common with criminals
Young male risk-taking behavior
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• 8. The midlife crisis is a myth—sort of
• Male midlife crisis is real but cause by their wife’s age not their own.
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• 9. It's natural for politicians to risk everything for an affair (but only if they're male)
• Power is a means to achieve reproductive success for males. It actually makes no sense (genetically) to not have affairs once you have achieved power!
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• 10. Men sexually harass women because they are not sexist
• Wrong motivation – it’s not men treating women differently its men treating women as they do other men. That is using their power to achieve advantage for purposes of reproductive success.