Courting Brain

Our minds evolved not just as survival
machines, but as courtship machines. Every one of our ancestors
managed not just to live for a while, but to convince at least one
sexual partner to have enough sex to produce offspring. Those
proto-humans that did not attract sexual interest did not become
our ancestors, no matter how good they were at surviving. Darwin
realized this, and argued that evolution is driven not just by
natural selection for survival, but by an equally important process
that he called sexual selection through mate choice. Following his insight,
I shall argue that the most distinctive aspects of our minds evolved
largely through the sexual choices our ancestors made.
The human mind and the peacock's tail may serve similar
biological functions. The peacock's tail is the classic example of
sexual selection through mate choice. It evolved because peahens
preferred larger, more colorful tails. Peacocks would survive better
with shorter, lighter, drabber tails. But the sexual choices of
peahens have made peacocks evolve big, bright plumage that takes
energy to grow and time to preen, and makes it harder to escape
from predators such as tigers. The peacock's tail evolved through
mate choice. Its biological function is to attract peahens. The
radial arrangement of its yard-long feathers, with their iridescent
blue and bronze eye-spots and their rattling movement, can be
explained scientifically only if one understands that function. The
tail makes no sense as an adaptation for survival, but it makes
perfect sense as an adaptation for courtship.

The human mind's most impressive abilities are like the
peacock's tail: they are courtship tools, evolved to attract and
entertain sexual partners. By shifting our attention from a
survival-centered view of evolution to a courtship-centered view,
I shall try to show how, for the first time, we can understand
more of the richness of human art, morality, language, and
creativity
A 1993 Gallup Poll showed that almost half of all Americans
accept that humans evolved gradually over millions of years. Yet
only about 10 percent believe that natural selection, alone and
unguided, can account for the human mind's astounding abilities.
Most think that the mind's evolution must have been guided by
some intelligent force, some active designer. Even in more secular
nations such as Britain, many accept that humans evolved from
apes, but doubt that natural selection suffices to explain our
minds.
Despite being a committed Darwinian, I share these doubts. I
do not think that natural selection for survival can explain the
human mind. Our minds are entertaining, intelligent, creative,
and articulate far beyond the demands of surviving on the plains
of Pleistocene Africa. To me, this points to the work of some
intelligent force and some active designer. However, I think the
active designers were our ancestors, using their powers of sexual
choice to influence—unconsciously—what kind of offspring they
produced. By intelligently choosing their sexual partners for their
mental abilities, our ancestors became the intelligent force behind
the human mind's evolution.