Out of Eden will make monogamists nervous. It will make polyamorists happy—and then it will make them sad. It will upset creationists. It will also upset anyone who believes that behavioral differences between men and women are socially constructed, rather than innate. As such, it will upset many feminists. It will upset many postmodernists. It will probably upset some of author David P. Barash’s fellow scientists.
In Out of Eden Barash, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Washington, argues that human beings evolved in polygamous communities. Sometimes this multi-partnering was out in the open. Other times, it happened on the sly. Either way, Barash aims to explain “the often-hidden consequences of our inherited polygamous inclinations.” In his telling, these consequences include certain basic differences between men and women. They could also include male homosexuality, genius, and the emergence of religion.
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