The red queen

sex and the evolution of human nature

405 pages

English language

Published July 29, 2003 by Perennial.

ISBN:
978-0-06-055657-0
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4 stars (22 reviews)

5 editions

Review of 'The red queen' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I should point out that I disagree deeply with some of the reasoning and theories in this book, and in general, think most arguments surrounding biological determinism are misguided (if not downright dangerous) but, I do think Ridley raises some good counterarguments to prevailing "nurture-only" arguments that currently prevail societally and warrant consideration and debate.

That said, I think his early sections on "Why sex?" and "Why sexes?" are infinitely better than when he starts to foray into what I think is mostly a survey and weaker thinking on human nature being defined by sex and feels he cherry-picks overly to support his case.

So, strangely, I think he fails in his premise, explaining human nature through sex and evolution, but does a really interesting job building the cases for sexual reproduction and the existence of genders.

Worth the read, but should be read very critically.

Review of 'The red queen' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book raised some very interesting aspects of our evolution and was a great companion to the Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkings. Matt Ridley continues the argument of the selfish gene with some insightful additions as well as comparisons to competitive/comparative theories. I would highly suggest this book to anyone interested in the origins of the human psyche.

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Subjects

  • Human evolution
  • Social evolution
  • Sex