HOW THE MIND WORKS

Pinker, Steven (1997) HOW THE MIND WORKS, New York: W.W. Norton

Although an outstanding academic, Pinker is an excellent popular science writer. In this work, he is really introducing the public and academia to evolutionary psychology.

The first half of the book is a discussion of how the mind works. He illustrates and discusses perception, cognition, predisposition, and related issues. The most important feature is that the brain is not blank upon which an environmental determinist can make it do anything that it wants. If anything, the brain resists manipulation or fights back in passive ways.

We are not the product of are environment nor the product of are genes. We are both. Each interacts with the other. In this work, he discusses how the sexes vary and yet can be depending the nature-nurture intermixture very different or similar. There appears to be some universals in mate selection, but even that has changed. Ambitious and rich men want attractive and young women. The men can then drop the women when they age and yet find another young woman. Now the woman can seek a younger man because of the riches derived from the first rich male or choose some one older based on her criteria.

Males seek hierarchies and are ruts.. Alpha males fight for the material to get a desired female. Women are coy and seek money and resources for their children. In basic terms, men are dogs and women are manipulative. However, this age old game is now compounded by wealthy women seeking cute younger men and older men seeking constant coed companionship which in the long run is terribly expensive and life threatening because STD’s.

Among the middle class, social androgyny has emerged and females and males seek out someone like themselves. They take different trajectories, but they get there.

On the other hand, males struggle with searching for sex. As the women gravitate to good looking rich males, many other males are left with pornography, prostitution, and situational homosexuality. Women are searching for fathers of their children and regardless of birth control, seek men that other women also want. Single females will be in a position to live solo lives or be an appendage to another marriage. Cuckoldry is now common among both sexes.

Both sexes place high value on kindness and intelligence.