Moral Animal

More than 15 years after it was first published, I've finally gotten around to reading Robert Wright's highly praised book on evolutionary psychology: The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology.

In this book, Wright presents the latest findings (well, from the early 90s) from the (then) emerging field of evolutionary psychology, which views human behavior within Darwin's theory of evolution. It attempts to answer questions like:

• Is monogamy natural for men? 
• Is monogamy natural for women?
• Where does sibling rivalry come from?
• Why do parents favor some children over others?
• Do parents prefer boys or girls depending on their social status?
• What evolutionary advantages might come from having low self-esteem?
• Are there biological roots for self-deception?

I thought it was interesting how the author framed each evolutionary psychology insight around specific circumstances in Darwin's own life, essentially using him as a test subject. But other than that, I didn't find the book particularly insightful. Of course, that might be because I'm reading it more than a decade after initial publication and evolutionary psychology has simply become accepted and commonly discussed in news and personal conversations.