Book review: "The Moral Animal" by Robert Wright

In this book the author tries to explain the new science of Evolutionary Psychology to the "common people" in simple terms. EP is the application of the theory of evolution to the understanding of human behavior.

This shouldn't be the first book one reads about evolution, as it assumes some knowledge. The theory of evolution is a feat of logic that speaks easily to any scientifically inclined person, but still some prior acquaintance is recommended.

I've read a couple of Richard Dawkins' books (highly recommended), and it prepared me well for EP. Dawkins focuses more on animals and physical traits, while Robert Wright talks specifically about the mental traits - psychology.

Much of this book is controversial. Human "soul" emotions like love, friendship and altruism are coldly dissected and presented in logical, scientific terms. One has to be a very rational person to enjoy this book...

The relationship(s) between males and females are given a lot of light in this book. Things like love, joy of sex, cheating are explained in terms of evolution that are so compelling that leave very little doubt. I would, however, place a careful bet that women won't like this part too much, at least most of them. The book doesn't show much mercy to feelings...

Another topic I loved is the application of the results from experiments of The Prisoner's Dilemma to evolutionary psychology. I've been long interested in the Prisoner's Dilemma, and just now I understood how interesting its results (generally that tit-for-tat is the best strategy) really are.

Besides all, the book provides a very detailed biography of Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution. The author takes an interesting approach in giving examples to what he explained from Darwin's own life.

The only downside is that the last part (~ 100 pages) drags a little. The author goes into "morality" too philosophically, and this part differs from the rest of the book.

All in all it's a great book, very much recommended. I think that the profile of the person who will enjoy the book most is: male, rational/scientifically oriented, non-religious (atheist preferred), and with some background on the theory of Evolution. Since this description fits me well, I enjoyed the book greatly. I like it when things make sense and "fall into their places", when simple insights explain complex behavior. Occam's razor in its best.