In this engaging discussion, Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist and associate professor at the University of New Mexico, shares insights drawn from over 30 years of research on sexual selection and dating dynamics. He critiques modern dating advice, explores the tension between delayed motherhood and societal expectations, and highlights how empathy is crucial for men navigating the dating world. The conversation dives into the complexities of attraction, relationship success traits, and even existential risks, making for a thought-provoking exploration of love and modern relationships.
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insights INSIGHT
Career vs. Biology Mismatch
Modern career tracks for women often clash with their biological clocks.
This mismatch between societal expectations and biology creates challenges for women.
insights INSIGHT
Attraction and Childlessness
Couples who choose not to have children may find each other less attractive over time.
This could be an evolutionary response to perceived infertility.
insights INSIGHT
Postpartum Attraction Shift
Women's attraction to their partners may decrease after childbirth, potentially due to hormonal changes.
They may also experience increased attraction to family for support.
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In 'The Moral Animal', Robert Wright delves into the world of evolutionary psychology to explain human behavior, emotions, and moral conduct. The book uses Charles Darwin's life and personal conduct in Victorian England as a case study to illustrate how evolutionary forces shape human behavior. Wright discusses topics such as jealousy, altruism, and social class, arguing that many of our actions are driven by subconscious genetic strategies aimed at survival and the propagation of our genes. The book also explores the paradox of how moral and responsible actions can emerge from a strictly Darwinian interpretation of human behavior, suggesting that understanding our evolutionary past can help us override our primitive programming and develop a more common moral outlook[1][2][4].
The Ape that Understood the Universe
Steve Stewart-Williams
The book delves into how humans evolved from mere apes into beings capable of reshaping the planet and understanding the universe. It draws on evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory to explain human behavior, sex differences, sexual behavior, altruistic tendencies, and culture. The author uses the perspective of a hypothetical alien scientist to examine human nature, highlighting how genes and memes interact to shape our species. The book discusses the evolution of culture, including the natural selection of memes, and how this transformation has enabled humans to dominate the planet and explore beyond it.
Mate
None
Geoffrey Miller
The Precipice
Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity
Toby Ord
In this book, Toby Ord argues that humanity is in a uniquely dangerous period, which he terms 'the Precipice,' beginning with the first atomic bomb test in 1945. Ord examines various existential risks, including natural and anthropogenic threats, and estimates that there is a one in six chance of humanity suffering an existential catastrophe within the next 100 years. He advocates for a major reorientation in how we see the world and our role in it, emphasizing the need for collective action to minimize these risks and ensure a safe future for humanity. The book integrates insights from multiple disciplines, including physics, biology, earth science, computer science, history, anthropology, statistics, international relations, and moral philosophy[1][3][5].
The Doomsday Machine
Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner
Daniel Ellsberg
In this book, Daniel Ellsberg chronicles his experiences as a nuclear war planner during the Cold War, revealing shocking details about the delegation of authority to initiate nuclear attacks, secret plans for general nuclear war, and the precarious nature of nuclear strategy. The book is divided into two parts: the first part is a memoir/confession of Ellsberg's intellectual and moral evolution, while the second part adopts a more academic perspective, analyzing the principles of 'just war' policy and the consequences of nuclear exchanges. Ellsberg argues that little has changed in nuclear policy since the Eisenhower and Kennedy years and offers feasible steps to dismantle the 'doomsday machine' and avoid nuclear catastrophe.
Spent
Geoffrey Miller
The Mating Mind
How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature
Geoffrey Miller
In 'The Mating Mind,' Geoffrey Miller proposes that the human mind evolved not just as a survival machine but as a courtship machine. He argues that many of the distinctive human traits, such as language, art, music, and morality, were developed as fitness indicators and sexual attractors. Miller draws on Darwin's theory of sexual selection and integrates ideas from psychology, economics, history, and pop culture to explain how these traits were shaped by the sexual choices of our ancestors. The book suggests that once language evolved, thought itself became subject to sexual selection, and that human courtship is a primary driving force behind human evolution[1][4][5].
The Evolution of Human Sexuality
Don Simons
Geoffrey Miller is an evolutionary psychologist, Associate Professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico and an author.
Geoffrey has been writing about sexual selection and dating dynamics for over 30 years. His work has provided the foundation which much of the modern Red Pill, Pink Pill and Manosphere dating advice has been based on. I wanted to find out how much of this guidance is accurate and how much has been lost in translation.
Expect to learn how evolutionary psychology can help marriages to be much happier, what Geoffrey thinks about the modern Manosphere, my hypothesis around the game theory of slut shaming, the fundamentals that everyone needs to know about how sexual selection works, how women can hack their own hypergamy, why me and Geoffrey are going to dedicate our lives to existential risk and much more...
Modern Wisdom 
