Why Is Sex Fun?
The Evolution of Human Sexuality
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Why Is Sex Fun?
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Narrated by:
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L. J. Ganser
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By:
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Jared Diamond
About this listen
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.
©1997 Jared Diamond (P)2018 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Why Is Sex Fun?
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- K. J. Kelly
- 07-05-24
Thought-provoking anthropology/evolution
Loved this as an audiobook. A short read, and I would definitely have liked more (the ending seem a bit rushed, just when I was getting into the topic!), but a number of fascinating concepts and told with verve and consideration.
Lots here about the differences between humans and almost every other animal - with female menopause, secondary sexual organs and their uses, and a lot of thought about early man and how evolution and selection pressures might have caused the sex and relationship features we see as 'normal' now but are quite unique a lot of the time in nature.
I loved the competing theories and how Diamon presenting them with evidence, examples and critiques.
Books like these are the reason I did a degree in psychology/anthropology, and I adore considering the wider implications of our behaviours and physiques.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Nikaleidoscope
- 04-10-23
Fascinating but misleading title
There is no denying that this book is fascinating, well researched and engaging. However the title is horribly misleading as is the imagery used for the cover. This book should be called ‘How & why human sex differs from all other mammals’ or maybe ‘The evolution of human sexual encounters & relationships’.
At no point does it address why sex is fun. Nor does it really touch on sexual pleasure.
It is a brilliant insight into how humans biologically differ from humans but for a full rounded picture to answer some of the questions explored it the text it seems logical and necessary to include social development, morality, religion and many more topics that have an impact on our sexual behaviour.
Also I found it strange and a bit confusing that the text is so scientific yet references the bible at least twice like it is a scientific/historically accurate source. It is of interest clearly but not in science in my opinion. I appreciate others may differ on that front though.
A great listen but needs a better title.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr Ben Bland
- 04-07-18
Good but short
Thorough, well argued and entertaining, as with everything else I've read by Jared Diamond. But it's a short book with a relatively narrow theme and not much of a clear, singular idea, compared with the likes of 'Guns, Germs and Steel'.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Hassan
- 13-07-21
Does not contain the answer to the title
This book is the equivalent of a click-bait video on YouTube, with the exception of the material being kind of interesting, but almost entirely unrelated to the question in the title.
If you're looking for the answer of why sex is fun then you're better off reading something else.
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