Homo Mysterious
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For all that science knows about the living world, there are even more things that we don't know, genuine evolutionary mysteries that perplex the best minds in biology. And paradoxically, many of these mysteries are very close to home: They involve some of the most personal aspects of being human, including such unresolved questions as why do women experience orgasm, menstruation and menopause, why do men have a shorter lifespan than women, and why does homosexuality exist? Ditto for other evolutionary mysteries of our own species: Why is religion a "cross-cultural universal," along with a fondness for the arts? Why do we have such large brains, and why does consciousness exist? Homo Mysterious examines these and other evolutionary mysteries, exploring things that we don't (yet) know about ourselves, laying out the best current hypotheses and pointing toward insights that scientists are just beginning to glimpse. Readers are invited to share the thrill of science at its exploratory margins, where we know what we don't know, and, moreover, we know enough to come up with some compelling and seductive explanations.
Homo Mysterious is a guide to creative thought and future explorations, based on the most current thinking of evolutionary scientists. For those who are interested in stretching their scientific imaginations, this book will expose the lure of the not yet known.
David P. Barash is Professor of Psychology and Biology at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, and author or coauthor of 26 books, including Payback, Madame Bovary's Ovaries: A Darwinian Look at Literature, The Myth of Monogamy: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People, and Natural Selections: Selfish Altruists, Honest Liars, and Other Realities of Evolution.