“Why do we like sex so much”

As it turned out, this is a very exciting activity – to consider in detail the sex life of the most diverse living creatures on our planet – from scorpions to bonobo monkeys and from earthworms to giraffes. For those who appreciate encyclopedic knowledge and like to compare facts that are far from each other, the book of the respected and very versatile scientist Jared Diamond will bring real pleasure – as it brought him to me. Stories about animals and birds, about the evolution of their “sexual” relationships, about why females of little-known birds cheat on their males and how this is justified from the point of view of natural selection, make you plunge into the book with your head. And if you want to show off knowledge to the public that 99% of people don’t even know exist, you can learn Diamond’s facts by heart.

And now for the cons. Having examined in detail the features of the sexual behavior of living beings, the author smoothly transfers his conclusions to people who turn out to be just another link in the evolution of the reproductive instinct. But you probably suspected that the instinct of procreation, sex and love are a little different things? Sex in humans for the most part is not related to reproduction at all and to a large extent depends not so much on hormones as on the social system and living conditions. Because sex is a psychological, purely human “superstructure” over the very instinct of reproduction. But animals do not have sex, and listing the details of their “sexual” behavior is like ascribing knowledge of the alphabet to bears.

It is clear that certain biological motives lie at the basis of any human behavior. But a person with his morality, laws, prejudices, patriarchy or matriarchy completely changes this biology, and it is at least inhumane to transfer the laws of the cockroach society to the human society. The biologization of intimate relationships, the explanation of human behavior and moral principles by the play of hormones is, alas, a common mistake, and sometimes a trick to promote ideas that are convenient for those who would like to manipulate human passions.

So this book is for those who think that apart from hormones, a man and a woman have nothing more to do. But supporters of love and sex may not read it, they still won’t believe it. ”