Long-tailed Minivet
76 стр. мягкая обложка
978-6-1332-5552-4

We, in contrast, have much bigger brains and far more reasoning ability than any other animal. Moreover, we are uniquely capable of speech and can thereby store and transmit far more detailed information than any other animal can. What need have we of red dots and black stripes when we routinely and accurately determine the age and status of other humans just by talking to them? What animal can tell another animal that it is twenty-seven years old, receives an annual salary of $125,000, and is second assistant vice president at the country's third largest bank? In selecting our mates and sex partners, don't we go through a dating phase that is in effect a long series of tests by which we accurately assess a prospective partner's parenting skills, relationship skills, and genes? The answer is simple: nonsense! We too rely on signals as arbitrary as a widowbird's tail and a bowerbird's crest. Our signals include faces, smells, hair color, men's beards, and women's breasts. What makes those structures less ludicrous than a long tail as grounds for selecting a spouseБЂ” the most important person in our adult life, our economic and social partner, and the coparent of our children? If we think that we have a signaling system immune to cheating, why do so many people resort to makeup, hair dyes, and breast augmentation? As for our supposedly wise and care-ful selection process, all of us know that when we walk into a room full of unfamiliar people, we quickly sense who attracts us physically and who doesn't ...