Interesting interview, especially the discussion on the nature of jealousy. It makes sense to me that sexual jealousy would not necessarily be distinct from “regular” jealousy. Also the Chinese culture in which the biological father is irrelevant to the raising of his child was interesting. However, as Desiree noted, a lot of this seemed like pure conjecture and speculation masquerading as science. Other than a study or two (e.g. of self-reported vs. bloodflow reported sexual arousal), Mr. Ryan seemed awfully light on hard facts. I understand that’s the nature of evo psychology, but I was left with more questions than answers.

I haven’t read Ryan’s book and maybe the Yanomami are an exception, but anyone that has read about rape and warfare among the Yanomami would be hard pressed to accept his generalizations on primitive cultures.

I also have to take issue with Ryan’s comparison of male and female sex drives. He compared them to the difference between gorging and eating slowly. Ryan said they were the same because they were both “eating”. I remember an interview on NPR from a long time ago about a woman that went through gender reassignment to become a man. When he started taking testosterone things all around him such as a bus made him think of sex. He certainly realized a difference and I can’t believe ryan is so blithe about the biological and hormonal differences between the sexes.