Darwin, Sex, and Status: Biological Approaches to Mind and Culture

Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to evolutionary psychology
Review: Dr. Jerome Barkow has shown us a glimpse of the future in this hugely interesting yet also highly manageable introduction to evolutionary psychology. Although newer, more research-oriented work has emerged since its publication (such as The Adapted Mind and the textbook Evolutionary Psychology) Darwin, Sex and Status still stands as a wonderful example of how the social sciences might be unified under the rubric of evolution. Dr. Barkow achieves the goal of practically any scientific work - to render the arcane and complicated comprehensible. He does this through his thorough understanding of evolutionary principles as well as his comfort in psychology and anthropology. His relaxed manner of writing and straightforward style make otherwise difficult to grasp concepts seem perfectly obvious. And make no mistake, this tome is brimming with interesting and complex ideas. Of course, the case for an evolutionary psychology is strengthened when seemingly incompatible fields (like psychology and anthropology) can be made to fall into place by an overarching theory like that of evolution. This type of work is tricky and demands masterful knowledge over a great many different fields to make it convincing. Here professor Barkow is in his element and demonstrates the power of working from an interdisciplinary perspective. The book is roughly divided up into three parts - a necessary discussion of evolutionary principles, a section on human psychology and lastly a treatment of social structure and anthropology. Taken together they stand as a robust statement about the psychology, social structure and culture of our species. As an added bonus, Dr. Barkow has provided a lengthy list of as yet untested hypotheses which are stated in such a way as to make them extraordinarily approachable from empirical methods. If you want to know more about evolutionary psychology or simply would like to see what a more synthetic peek at our psychology and culture would look like or even if you just would like to be simultaneously titillated and entertained, Darwin Sex, and Status is a great place to start.

Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to evolutionary psychology
Review: Dr. Jerome Barkow has shown us a glimpse of the future in this hugely interesting yet also highly manageable introduction to evolutionary psychology. Although newer, more research-oriented work has emerged since its publication (such as The Adapted Mind and the textbook Evolutionary Psychology) Darwin, Sex and Status still stands as a wonderful example of how the social sciences might be unified under the rubric of evolution. Dr. Barkow achieves the goal of practically any scientific work - to render the arcane and complicated comprehensible. He does this through his thorough understanding of evolutionary principles as well as his comfort in psychology and anthropology. His relaxed manner of writing and straightforward style make otherwise difficult to grasp concepts seem perfectly obvious. And make no mistake, this tome is brimming with interesting and complex ideas. Of course, the case for an evolutionary psychology is strengthened when seemingly incompatible fields (like psychology and anthropology) can be made to fall into place by an overarching theory like that of evolution. This type of work is tricky and demands masterful knowledge over a great many different fields to make it convincing. Here professor Barkow is in his element and demonstrates the power of working from an interdisciplinary perspective. The book is roughly divided up into three parts - a necessary discussion of evolutionary principles, a section on human psychology and lastly a treatment of social structure and anthropology. Taken together they stand as a robust statement about the psychology, social structure and culture of our species. As an added bonus, Dr. Barkow has provided a lengthy list of as yet untested hypotheses which are stated in such a way as to make them extraordinarily approachable from empirical methods. If you want to know more about evolutionary psychology or simply would like to see what a more synthetic peek at our psychology and culture would look like or even if you just would like to be simultaneously titillated and entertained, Darwin Sex, and Status is a great place to start.