Sex, Genes & Rock 'n' Roll
How Evolution Has Shaped the Modern World
by Rob Brooks
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Sex, Genes & Rock 'n' Roll
Why are so many of us getting fat? Why are we fascinated by pop music and celebrities? What accounts for rampant consumerism and the environmental damage it wreaks? In Sex, Genes & Rock ’n’ Roll, Rob Brooks argues that insights can be found by studying how the forces of evolution collide with modern culture and economics.
Consider sex ratios. Under normal circumstances, natural selection apportions the ratio of males to females in a population in a way that ensures the long-term stability of that population. Brooks spotlights the cultural effects of a glut of young males in China, India and Pakistan, where female infanticide and a preference for male children skew birth ratios, showing that such practices can only lead to instability and unrest.
As for the allure of rock stars, Brooks notes that music has evolutionary roots that runs deep. “Music-making,” he writes, “may be the most complex and sophisticated courtship display in the animal kingdom.” He argues that the capacity to make music evolved, at least in part, by sexual selection; he also suggests that rock music was heavily influenced by the evolutionary agenda of male performers seeking to out-compete other men and attract women, often by working in coalitions: rock groups.
Turning to the issue of overconsumption, Brooks suggests that if humanity is to avert catastrophic population growth and environmental degradation, we need to restrain our evolutionary self-interests—not only by having fewer babies but also by making sure that each individual exercises greater restraint in how much and how wastefully he or she consumes.
Sex, Genes & Rock ’n’ Roll reveals how evolutionary biology interacts with other forces to explain the most interesting problems of the modern world.
Hardcover : 320 pages
Publisher: Trustees of Dartmouth College ( March 13, 2012 )
Item #: 13-560231
ISBN: 9781611682366
Product Dimensions: 6.0 x 9.0 inches
Product Weight: 22.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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