The Red Queen-Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature-Matt Ridley

Science

 

The Red Queen-Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature

Matt Ridley

 

It is said of second law of thermodynamics that if any new theory in physics falls foul of this law it is bound to be doomed. In biological sciences a similar stature can be granted to Darwin’s theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. In modern biology all facts of life have to be explained in the light of this theory. It is now accepted that human anatomy and physiology are products of this evolution. But human nature was thought to be in a different league. It was argued to be a product of human culture. It was believed that animal behaviour could not have any parallel in human nature. Former was a product of inherited instincts while later was learnt. This view prevailed among biologist throughout the first half of twentieth century. Edward Wilson’s ‘Sociobiology’ challenged this opinion and the last four to five decades have witnessed a meteoric growth in Evolutionary Psychology, wherein human nature is now known to be influenced as ineluctably by our genes as are our bodies. 

Matt Ridley in this book examines the role of sex in evolution of divergent natures of male and female of a species. Human nature, not unlike human body has evolved over millions of years through the relentless working of natural selection. Human beings do not occupy a special niche in nature. We have evolved under the same forces that acted on other members of animal kingdom too. Like our body, our mind and as a corollary, our nature preserves distinct vestiges of this evolution that are incontrovertibly reflected in animal behaviour. Thus, studies of animal behaviour provide a readymade tool to understand the origin of human nature. Matt Ridley extensively quotes the research on animal behaviour to illustrate and explain certain perplexing features of human nature. Basic premise of the book is that male and females of a species faced different pressures during evolution and hence they have come to acquire different natures. 

Matt Ridley first discusses various theories that have been propounded to explain the need for sexual reproduction. Then at length he elucidates the most widely accepted theory that sex originated as a shield against the rampant parasitic infections.  This introduces the concept of ‘Red Queen’ who ran faster and faster- in Lewis Carrol’s Alice in the Wonderland- but remained in the same place, as her immediate environment, the trees and the grass too ran as fast as the Queen. The host and the parasite are in a continuous race as each keep evolving continuously but find themselves in the same place relative to each other. We come across this principle repeatedly in evolution of life on earth. Ridley discusses the competition between sexes in the nature and the explanations put forward to account for two different sexes. He talks about various theories that try to explain the origin of elaborate and often riotous anatomical differences between male and female in animals, especially in birds. In next two sections he discusses how the different reproductive and sexual needs of male and female may have evolved the distinctly different natures in two sexes. An example of the different approach to the same aspect of life in male and female of an animal species is the ‘polygamy of male and the monogamy of female’, though I cannot more hurriedly add that these are not the only and neither an ‘etched in stone’ characteristics of animal behaviour. Nature and nurture are inextricably twined around each other as they go about developing human nature. 

In a superb chapter Ridley discusses how sex might have contributed to the most unique of human attributes, our supremely swollen brain and the magnificent mind that goes with it. In another chapter he discusses different approach of male and female of a species to sex. He states scientific facts trenchantly without disguising his assertions in a veil of politically correct banalities. He is not offensive but neither is he apologetic on behalf of science. In a section he speculates, with enticing wit and logic, on the uses of beauty for men and women; why men look for big-breasted, narrow-waisted, young girls with wide hips and why woman look for rich, high-statured, tall men with tough, indomitable character. It is easy and tempting to decry such assertions as being sexist, discriminatory and stereotyped. But to deny the biological differences between male and female mind is to deny truth. It will be another futile exercise to derive our values in life from known biological facts. Matt Ridley reminds us that when studying human nature scientifically we must resist the temptation to substitute ‘is’ for ‘ought’. The fact that evolution has endowed us with certain behaviour pattern in a particular situation does not imply that this ought to be the human behaviour in such a circumstance. Nature’s laws and natural phenomena do not decide what is morally correct. Rather, a scientific study of human nature will caution us to the follies that we are prone to commit owing to our evolutionary origins. This knowledge is a constant reminder that to avoid these we must constantly fight our innate nature. 

This is an enticing book. Matt Ridley has dealt with the topics that are not only new in the study of human nature but are controversial and rarely discussed in forums other than close scientific communities. His writing is lucid and his enunciation of scientific theories clear and concise. Book is educating, stimulating and satisfies a deep craving for understanding our self. I hope all persons interested in the strange workings of human nature will come to read this.