The Evolution Of Desire Insights

The must-read analysis of the key insights from "The Evolution Of Desire" by David M. Buss — presented by Athena.

Choosing a partner isn’t about romance — it’s evolution. Couples today are still acting on the same principles of sexual selection that drove the earliest humans to reproduce.

In this provocative book, David Buss turns to Darwin's theories from the mid-19th century to explain why humans choose the mates they do. It might be hard to swallow — the idea that mating preferences aren't entirely conscious choices, but Buss backs it up with extensive research, including a study of more than 100,000 people from 37 cultures across the globe.

It’s a question as old as time: What does the opposite sex want in a partner? In "The Evolution of Desire," evolutionary psychologist David M. Buss starts there before moving on to an additional but related query:

Why do they want it?

Drawing on research involving more than 10,000 people of all ages across 37 cultures worldwide, Buss provides answers that confirm the theory that evolution plays a role in contemporary desire. Over the millennia, Buss argues, humans have so completely fine-tuned their search for sexual partners that people now innately and subconsciously seek mates whose qualities suggest they’ll be successful at reproduction.