Reflections on the Book "Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life" by D. Kenrick

Before I began reading the book "Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life," I decided to familiarize myself a little with the biography of its author, D. Kenrick. From it I learned that D. Kenrick is a professor of psychology at Arizona State University, the author of 170 scientific articles and books, and a well-known specialist in the field of social psychology who writes a blog for the journal "Psychology Today" and conducts scientific research. In the book "Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life," human nature is examined from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. D. Kenrick leads the reader to reflect on the idea that behind a civilized mask lies the wild nature of a person, and that humans are far more similar to animals than we are accustomed to thinking — with all our homocentric tendencies and sexual fantasies. And certain seemingly wrong human behaviors are, in essence, entirely correct, including excessive consumption and racial prejudices. From the book one can learn the true nature of international conflicts and social problems through the many examples that D. Kenrick provides. I decided to highlight the moments I found most interesting. For example, the book describes how only men can be driven to murder by humiliation and insult — the real cause of extreme aggression is not what one person says to another, but how they say it and what lies behind their intonation. When one man publicly insults another, regardless of what provoked the insult, the status of the insulted person changes. And when a man loses his standing in the eyes of those around him, he also becomes less attractive in the eyes of women. This idea strikes me as quite plausible. Another thought that caught my attention — though one whose truthfulness I have some doubts about — is the possible explanation for sex differences in the commission of murder: the motive of wanting to impress those around you is described in the book as atypical for women yet quite characteristic of men. I found it very interesting that the most typical female pattern is a woman killing her husband or lover in self-defense, because she fears that one day he might kill her if she does not strike first. The book offers three possible explanations for why women are less inclined to act on their "murderous" thoughts. First, female fantasies are more fleeting than male ones: 65% of women who experienced such emotions said they lasted only seconds or minutes, whereas men can be preoccupied with such thoughts for hours, days, and even weeks. Regarding the claim that only men's fantasies are accompanied by sinister details, I somewhat disagree — in that respect, I think it is actually women who tend toward more detailed thinking. Another idea I found quite plausible: when people see beautiful women, their adaptation level — their standard for what they consider beautiful — shifts. A side effect of men constantly viewing photographs of attractive women is that real women, the kind a given man might actually date, will no longer appeal to him, because his brain has adapted to the images it perceives as the norm. When young men frequently look at photographs of top models, this undermines their feelings toward the real women of flesh and blood in their lives. This idea illustrates, better than anything else, just how much society is influenced by the very ideas it imposes upon itself. The final idea I would like to describe here: in an experiment, women were shown images of various men. Women immediately remembered the attractive men, suggesting that they are primarily inclined to notice men with interesting appearances. However, as the experiment progressed, it was observed that their interest in the handsome men gradually waned and eventually disappeared entirely. Attractive men, though they do capture women's attention, do not linger long in their consciousness. Overall, I enjoyed this book very much and found a great deal in it that was new to me. The book reinforced some of my own thoughts on various topics, and also prompted me to reflect more deeply on the true nature of my own actions and those of others.