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Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters  By  cover art

Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters

By: Alan S. Miller,Satoshi Kanazawa
Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
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Editorial reviews

If you've ever wondered why human beings act the way they act, or prefer the things (and people) they prefer, take note - Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa may have the answers...or at least some of them. In Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters, these co-authors sink their teeth into age-old controversies about human nature, attempting to deploy the strictures of evolutionary biology in order to explain quite broadly why people are the way we are.

Stephen Hoye's strong pacing translates the book's accessible tone into an equally listenable experience, and his clear voice endows this intriguing work with an authoritative vibe.

Publisher's summary

A lively and provocative look at how evolution shapes our behavior and our lives.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, our brains and bodies are hardwired to carry out an evolutionary mission that determines much of what we do, from life plans to everyday decisions.

With an accessible tone and a healthy disregard for political correctness, this lively and eminently readable book popularizes the latest research in a cutting-edge field of study: one that turns much of what we thought we knew about human nature upside-down.

Every time we fall in love, fight with our spouse, enjoy watching a favorite TV show, or feel scared walking alone at night, we are in part behaving as a human animal with its own unique nature: a nature that essentially stopped evolving 10,000 years ago. Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa reexamine some of the most popular and controversial topics of modern life and shed a whole new light on why we do the things we do.

Beware: You may never look at human nature the same way again.

©2007 Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"A lively excursion into the new, and still disputed, field of Evolutionary Psychology." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"This accessible book opens the youthful field of evolutionary psychology wide for examination, with results often as disturbing as they are fascinating." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not bad but didn't live up to the reviews

From reading some of the other reviews, I thought that this book was going to be great cover to cover. While it did contain some good thought provoking stuff, I found that it became repetitive and took some license with the statistics that it was using (where it bothered to use them) to prop up their position. While I feel there is good logic to much of what is put forward in this book, I think the approach is a little too simplistic and not sufficiently supported.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Incisive evoloutionary psychology

An outstanding evidence-based introduction to evolutionary psychology. The authors have elegantly combined research studies with relevant daily life examples. Importantly, they have not yielded to the mores that have often stifled the discussion of the evolution of human traits and abilities. Highly recommended.

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18 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

This is why political correctness is a joke

Any additional comments?

Finally, a book that addresses why people are the way they are instead of the way we think we ought to be. Human beings have certain behavioral inclinations because those traits have proven to be useful to our propagation and survival. You can philosophize and preach and dream about a utopian society, but our intrinsic nature is almost sure to win out in the end. This book is full of interesting insights along those lines. It's still a new field so some of the thinking comes across as premature and speculative, but it's fascinating all the same. And if anyone still wants that utopian society, it behooves you to understand what we as a species are all about if you want to figure out what you're up against.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

If you're a FREAKANOMICS fan

This is a good read, although I don't feel there was much that was earth-shattering. The questions the author raised were ones most of us think about, but the only answer I got from this book was SEX. He may be right. I enjoyed the process of analying what information the authors had, but mostly I felt they were assuming too much. I recommend this book for people who enjoyed the side-ways thinking of FREAKANOMICS, but don't expect great revelations.

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I Am A College Instructor, And...

I am continually exposed to the Marxist, neo-Feminist nonsense that gets passed along to my well-meaning students via their sociology and gender classes, namely that there is "no human nature," and thus, no such thing as race, gender, etc. The supposed explanation is that race and gender, etc. are "social constructs" and thus are "not real." (So are family, community, language, crime, rape, theft, murder, and about everything else we live by--are they "not real" as well? Can we throw away any or all "social constructs" simply to satisfy our false utopian visions?) Of course, all this stuff is Marxist tabula rasa propaganda that flies in the face of all of Darwin, neurology and just good science and common sense. Here we have yet another good book on Human Nature as it came down to us through evolutionary history, the real, scientific explanation of why we are like we are and why it's still so hard to get along, even here in ironic, coddled, Post-Modern 2016. Read this with Pinker's The Blank Slate, Moelem's Inheritance, Wade's A Troublesome Inheritance, and Wilson's On Human Nature--but do it in your safe space: it's a bit controversial these days.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Mommy's baby, daddy's maybe?

I absolutely loved every part of this book. I liked is so much I listened to it twice, back to back. I had never heard of Evolutionary Psychology before, but everything it professed to be true or speculated upon really rang true for me. This is a fascinating topic, whether you buy into all of it, some of it, or none of it. It just makes so much sense to me. It is written in a light-hearted manner and was an easy listen that frequently elicited smiles from me, as I shook my head and said, "Yes!".

The format involves the author stating a question about human nature and answering the question according to the new science of Evolutionary Psychology. In very simple terms, this science posits that human culture or human nature is the same for all people worldwide. It evolved thousands of years ago and our prime directive is to reproduce ourselves. This influences and directs every aspect of male and female behavior. It so clearly explains how the differences between the sexes evolved and what drives men and women.

At the end of the book, the author presents questions that are not yet answered by the new science and some possible explanations that have been put forth.

I highly recommend this book. It is fairly short, expertly narrated, and guaranteed to make you smile!

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I LOVED this book

What did you love best about Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters?

I'm a huge fan of evolutionary psychology. This covers all the basics, and more!

What other book might you compare Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters to and why?

I can't say I've read anything quite like it. Closest thing would have to be A General Theory of Love - only because it deals with some evolutionary psychology, but mostly neuropsychology.

Which character – as performed by Stephen Hoye – was your favorite?

Does not apply

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The section that actually explains "why beautiful people have more daughters". It was very in-depth, and even a little hard to follow. I will have to re-read it in order to concretely memorize the concept. But that is not a complaint. I found that section in particular highly interesting.

Any additional comments?

Excellent read.

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7 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Obvious Conclusions with a Juvenile One-Sidedness

What would have made Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters better?

It could have been improved with some substantiated scientific information. The voice of the author sounded like a republican/democrat pundit talking about the other side as if they are always wrong. I can't believe that the author knows very many social scientists, but he bundles them up as morons who deny any type of genetic disposition.

Has Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters turned you off from other books in this genre?

Well, I really liked Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality, 2nd Edition, as well as A Short History of Nearly Everything, so I will probably buy more titles in this category.

Would you be willing to try another one of Stephen Hoye’s performances?

No.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating, clever, and very well read

An excellent introduction to evolutionary psychology. Well written, in terms both of clarity and style, and peppered with moments of robust humor and startling, albeit tentative, conclusions. The narrator is excellent, sounding well rehearsed (all too rare) and possessed of a delightful sense of humor, served very, very dry.

Worth mentioning as well, the dedication to the co-author was, at least for me, genuinely moving and memorable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating!

Anyone with any interest in human nature and why we do what we do is sure to find at least several tidbits in this easy-to-listen book.

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4 people found this helpful