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Why Is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality (Science Masters) Paperback – September 25, 1998

by Jared Diamond (Author)

83 customer reviews

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To us humans the sex lives of many animals seem weird. In fact, by comparison with all the other animals, we are the ones with the weird sex lives. How did that come to be?Just count our bizarre ways. We are the only social species to insist on carrying out sex privately. Stranger yet, we have sex at any time, even when the female can't be fertilized (for example, because she is already pregnant, post-menopausal, or between fertile cycles). A human female doesn't know her precise time of fertility and certainly doesn't advertise it to human males by the striking color changes, smells, and sounds used by other female mammals.Why do we differ so radically in these and other important aspects of our sexuality from our closest ancestor, the apes? Why does the human female, virtually alone among mammals go through menopause? Why does the human male stand out as one of the few mammals to stay (often or usually) with the female he impregnates, to help raise the children that he sired? Why is the human penis so unnecessarily large?There is no one better qualified than Jared Diamond—renowned expert in the fields of physiology and evolutionary biology and award-winning author—to explain the evolutionary forces that operated on our ancestors to make us sexually different. With wit and a wealth of fascinating examples, he explains how our sexuality has been as crucial as our large brains and upright posture in our rise to human status.

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About the Author

Jared Diamond is professor of physiology at UCLA Medical School and the author of The Third Chimpanzee.

Product details

Series: Science Masters
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; First Edition edition (September 25, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465031269
ISBN-13: 978-0465031269
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 83 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #43 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Anthropology > Physical
- #211 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Sexuality
- #246 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Anthropology > General

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Detective Diamond Investigates Human Sexuality

December 16, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This great little book shows us how science really works. It's like a series of detective stories - following clues (generating hypotheses) until you run into walls (counterarguments) until eventually a more or less satisfactory theory emerges (subject to the next scientist’s new evidence or argument). In this case it's all about how evolution has shaped human sexuality, much of it by comparing us with other primates and examining our evolutionary history as best we know it.

The first big question, referred to in the title of the book, is why we can enjoy sex throughout most of our lives, often daily, unlike many primates, even though women are infertile most of that time and it takes time and energy away from other pressing activities. It's not as obvious as you might think. From one mystery to another, detective Diamond just whets your appetite for more.

Yet there is a question that I've wondered about for many years, a question that I think needs to be more fully addressed: Why are male and female sexuality so badly matched? He does explain (p. 100) that the "hunter-gatherer lifestyle involves a classic conflict of interest": "A woman is best off married to a good provider, but a man is not best off being a provider". Then he proceeds to note that "Conflicts of interest between people closely related by blood or marriage are the commonest, most gut wrenching tragedies of our lives." Then why hasn't evolution found some way to make our lives less tragic? Is it that we are just too young as a species or has this actually contributed to our evolutionary success?

One person found this helpful

Comment

Another enjoyable book from Jared Diamond

August 26, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I am a bit biased towards Jared Diamond. I simply liking reading his books, his style, the way he analyses and explains, intertwined with lighthearted anecdotes.
This is one of his older books but deals with a timeless topic: evolutionary biology - in this case the evolution of sex.
I found it very informative. It certainly added to my knowledge, and - as with all Jared Diamond books - it makes a good reference.
Anyone interested in evolutionary biology should not miss this book.

One person found this helpful

Comment

Leib Gershon Mitchell

Very good overall

July 4, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

There is a bit of overlap in this book with "The Third Chimpanzee," and this is to be expected. (Many of us have noticed that authors tend to cover the same points again and again.) On account of this, it loses one star.

On the good side, this book is very concise and light to read. There are almost no graphs in the book (for maximum simplicity).

The best points:

1. There wwas a good discussion of the process of going about testing a theory/ hypothesis, and though this may need to be read several times to be understood it is something that is interesting to know.
2. There were lots of neat little factoids about animals (such as elephants having 5 sets of teeth over the course of a life).
3. The questions surrouding the function of concealed ovulation were dealt with in a very easy-to-understand way that didn't bog the reader down with excessive technical details.
4. Diamond's beginnings into analyzing the male/ female division of labor were, by far, the best part of the whole book. It was sufficiently quantitative to be believable, but not so much as to be boring.

9 people found this helpful

Comment

Interesting look at the mating habits of humans and other species

April 29, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The book is very detailed in delving into the oddities of human sexuality. However, he makes some assertions that I find it hard to agree with and this was frustrating, as I have faith in his process.

For Instance, the claim the women have no idea when they are ovulating and men get no physical signals. I disagree with that. Women often know they are ovulating and men certainly know by whatever physical change shows itself to them, whether it be a change in skin tone or pheromones. They circle like sharks, and that is 35 years of life experience talking.

I wish he had delved into the brain operations and introduced some of that, which seemed a glaring oversight.

Comment

A question without an answer

December 11, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I started reading Diamond with Guns, Germs, and Steel and went on to other of his works. While reading "Why Is Sex Fun" we were staying with our daughter, helping her care for a newborn and his comments on the energy expenditure of caring for an infant were enlightening. His writing was insightful and at the same time entertaining, but unless I skipped a page somewhere he fails to answer two questions presented in the advertising - Why is it fun? and Why humans choose privacy for sex? Compared to Guns... and Collapse, this one is a lightweight and not just in the number of pages.

4 people found this helpful

Comment

Evolution of human beings

February 1, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The title is misleading. The contents are scholarly and thought provoking

Comment

Interesting and informative book

November 4, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I could not put this very interesting downloaded book down and finished it in under five days. Someone wrote in the reviews that this book consists of the juicier parts of another book, "The Third Chimpanzee" by the same author. It explains how humans and our sexual behaviours are different from other animals. The price of the Kindle edition is also extremely reasonable. Buy it now.

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