> > That said, what I am really looking at here is the implications of
> mating
> > behavior to evolution, the future of the race, etc. Consider the first
> > humans vs the very similar chimps. The first humans likely had the
> > mutation of a straight leg: they could lock the knee and walk on two
> > legs much more easily than the chimps. This mutation freed the hands
> > to manipulate objects. The critical factor is that being able to
> manipulate
> > objects caused the smarter protohumans to have a survival advantage
> > over dumber protohumans, whereas it is not clear to me that the smarter
> > chimps have any real reproductive advantage over dumber chimps.
>
Perhaps when it came to contests for females, the no-more-attractive smarter
chimps won out because those with hands free to manipulate tools could pick
up something long and heavy, and *wallop*, no more free market for
reproduction.
Don't discount violence. I think that smart people manage to control the use of violence (again in aggregate), so that over time they get the reproductive advantage - or else! Sex and violence go hand in hand (or boot in balls?). There is a tendency to lump brains into the nerd stereotype, ie: violence impared, but I think this is a little lie propagated by the smart people. Maybe a big idiot can thump a weedy smart guy, but in the end you usually find the lunks in the service of the nerds. The nineties, QED.
Seriously, our culture is designed for Mr Brains. In a contest between Buns & Brains, Brains must surely win out in aggregate (pumping petrol is not attractive, even with a good haircut, perhaps unless you own the petrol company).
Of course, as has already been stated, Mr Buns+Brains is the best of all, but only because Buns is an added benefit over and above the prerequisite of Brains.
In my opinion actually, social skills are far more important than either of the above qualities (although this is after all a form of intelligence). Also confidence. Ever wonder about those butt-ugly guys with women falling all over them? It's not pheromones. Shyness is a good way to be celibate.
Anyone got a perspective on the female side of this debate? That is, smart vs attractive women? Women have these problems too you know (more so maybe).
Emlyn
ps: here's my monthly reminder to the world that I am male