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Published byFelix Strickland Modified over 8 years ago
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A Mind Fit for Mating G.F. Miller The Mating Mind, Ch 4 (2000)
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Main Thesis Human mental abilities shaped by sexual selection not natural selection Not necessarily optimal or rational
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Sexual Selection Goal - choose mate with best genes for offspring Feedback loops –Runaway selection –Fitness indicators Produces traits not optimal for survival
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Runaway Selection Arbitrary preferences self-reinforce Target sex must develop trait Selecting sex need offspring with trait Produces marked dimorphisms
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Fitness Indicators Traits with strong correlation to overall fitness Draw on large fraction of genome Exogenous pressure for preference Leads to exaggerated manifestation Human brain –Affected by 50% of genes –Disproportionate energy use, x10-30 –Rapid tripling in size
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Heritability of Fitness Mate selection only useful with meaningful genetic variation Absent in evolutionary equilibrium But mutations, shifts in environment
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Reliable Indicators Selective pressure to fake Only useful if –Direct indicator of fitness –Incur cost Handicap principle –Wasting resources is reliable indicator of fitness
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Mental Traits as Fitness Indicators Traits not shared with other primates –Music, humor, creativity –(excess) language, altruism Characteristic of sexual, not natural, adaptations –Large individual differences, non-modular, heritable, high costs, complex
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