What Makes Men More Attractive | Jordan Peterson

Summary

The script delves into the human struggle with complexity, stemming from our finite consciousness against an unbounded world. It posits that cooperation, despite its flaws, is essential for survival. The discussion explores the role of evolution, including recent insights from epigenetics, and sexual selection's impact on human development. It highlights how humans, as social and adaptable creatures, have evolved to navigate multiple dominance hierarchies, leading to our cognitive flexibility and the emergence of hero mythology as a reflection of our multifaceted success across various domains.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The fundamental problem humans face is the struggle with complexity, which arises from the finiteness of individual consciousness and the vast, unbounded world.
• 🤝 Humans partly solve the complexity problem by cooperating with each other, which multiplies their cognitive and conceptual resources.
• 🌐 The critique of cooperative societies often overlooks the benefits of social structures compared to the chaos of individual existence.
• 🧬 The Darwinian notion of evolution is supported by the way complexity has been 'solved' through our evolutionary history, despite the models not being complete.
• 🔄 Epigenetics shows that acquired traits can be inherited, which is a significant shift from previous beliefs and complicates our understanding of evolution.
• 🌱 Sexual selection plays a significant role in human evolution, potentially being the primary driver, and is not merely a byproduct of random mutations.
• 🦚 The peacock's tail is an example of how sexual selection can drive evolution, as females select males based on markers of health and fitness.
• 🚹🚺 Both men and women select each other based on attractiveness, intelligence, and personality, with some differences in what traits are emphasized.
• 🌟 The 'hero' in mythology may represent the part of the human psyche that is adept at succeeding across various dominance hierarchies.
• 🌐 Human beings are generalists, capable of thriving in a wide range of environments and conditions, unlike species with very specific niches.

Q & A

What is the fundamental problem that humans face according to the speaker?

The fundamental problem that humans face is an ongoing struggle with complexity, which emerges from the finite boundedness of individual consciousness and the unbounded excess of the world.

How does the speaker suggest we deal with the problem of complexity?

We deal with the problem of complexity by cooperating with other people, which multiplies our resources and helps us navigate the world despite our limited cognitive abilities.

What role does the critique of cooperative societies play in the speaker's argument?

The critique of cooperative societies is acknowledged as valid because these systems can be oppressive due to the value hierarchies they enforce, but the speaker argues that they are still better than chaos and align with our social nature.

How does the speaker view the truth of the Darwinian notion of evolution?

The speaker views the Darwinian notion of evolution as true, but also acknowledges that our models of evolution are not complete, citing recent work in epigenetics and sexual selection as complicating factors.

What is the significance of epigenetics in the context of evolution as mentioned by the speaker?

Epigenetics is significant because it suggests that acquired traits can be inherited, which is a radical shift in perspective and implies that environmental factors can influence genetic inheritance across generations.

Why does the speaker believe that sexual selection is a primary driver of human evolution?

The speaker believes sexual selection is a primary driver of human evolution because it allows for non-random selection of genetic material based on attractiveness, health markers, and other traits that females may find desirable.

How does the dominance hierarchy factor into the evolution of human beings according to the speaker?

The dominance hierarchy factors into human evolution by providing a structure where males compete for status and access to reproductive partners, and females select mates based on various markers of health and success.

What does the speaker suggest about the relationship between human creativity and dominance hierarchies?

The speaker suggests that human creativity allows individuals to establish their own dominance hierarchies, which can be a significant advantage and is a reflection of our cognitive flexibility and adaptability.

How does the speaker connect the idea of hero mythology to the human capacity for success across dominance hierarchies?

The speaker connects hero mythology to the human capacity for success across dominance hierarchies by suggesting that the mythological hero represents the part of the psyche that is particularly adept at navigating and succeeding in various social hierarchies.

What does the speaker imply about the adaptability of human beings in comparison to other species?

The speaker implies that human beings are highly adaptable, similar to 'weedy species' like rats and cockroaches, capable of thriving in a wide range of environments and situations due to our general-purpose nature.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Human Struggle with Complexity

The speaker discusses the fundamental problem of human beings as an ongoing struggle with complexity. This complexity arises due to the finite nature of individual consciousness and the vast, unbounded world. The speaker suggests that humans are surrounded by things they understand and an ocean of things they don't, including aspects of themselves. The challenge is deemed unsolvable due to the lack of cognitive and conceptual resources. Cooperation with others is presented as a way to multiply resources and better navigate the world, despite the oppressive nature of cooperative systems that force value hierarchies.

05:01

🌱 Evolution and Complexity

The speaker argues that the best argument for the truth of Darwinian evolution is how it has addressed the problem of complexity. They acknowledge the incompleteness of current evolutionary models, citing recent developments in epigenetics that allow for the inheritance of acquired traits. The speaker discusses the long evolutionary timeline of life, the role of mutations driven by factors like solar activity, and the randomness in environmental shifts. They also touch on sexual selection as a significant factor in human evolution, influencing the development of complex nervous systems and minds.

10:02

🦚 Sexual Selection and Dominance Hierarchies

The speaker delves into the concept of sexual selection and dominance hierarchies, explaining how these structures have influenced human evolution. They describe how male success in dominance hierarchies and female choice based on various markers, such as health and symmetry, have shaped our species. The speaker uses the example of the peacock's tail to illustrate how female preference for certain traits can drive evolutionary changes. They also discuss how human beings have developed multiple dominance hierarchies, leading to a broader range of success metrics and the evolution of cognitive flexibility.

15:03

🚀 Human Cognitive Flexibility and the Hero Archetype

The speaker concludes by discussing how human cognitive flexibility and the ability to succeed across various dominance hierarchies have led to the multiplication of success metrics. They suggest that humans are general-purpose creatures, adaptable and capable of thriving in diverse environments. This adaptability is linked to the hero mythology, where the hero represents the part of the psyche that excels across different challenges. The speaker reflects on the multi-purpose nature of humans, comparing us to creatures like rats and cockroaches in our ability to survive and succeed in a wide range of conditions.

Keywords

💡Complexity

Complexity in the script refers to the vast and intricate nature of the world and human consciousness that exceeds an individual's capacity to comprehend. It is central to the theme of the video as it discusses how humans grapple with the overwhelming amount of information and stimuli that they cannot fully understand. The script mentions that complexity emerges from the finiteness of individual consciousness contrasted with the unbounded nature of the world, including aspects of one's own consciousness.

💡Cooperative Societies

Cooperative societies are groups of individuals working together to achieve common goals. The script discusses how humans partly deal with the problem of complexity by cooperating with each other, which multiplies their resources and capabilities. It is related to the video's theme as it offers a solution to the struggle with complexity. The script also critiques cooperative societies for their potential oppressive nature due to the creation of value hierarchies.

💡Epigenetics

Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression that do not involve alterations to the underlying DNA sequence. The script brings up epigenetics as a recent field of study that challenges older models of evolution by suggesting that acquired traits can be inherited. This concept is crucial as it broadens the discussion on how evolution and adaptation occur, beyond mere genetic mutation.

💡Dominance Hierarchies

Dominance hierarchies are social structures where individuals rank themselves in a linear order of power, status, or dominance. The script explains that these hierarchies are an ancient and fundamental part of the environment, influencing evolutionary processes. They play a significant role in sexual selection and the development of complex social behaviors in humans, as they determine access to resources and mates.

💡Sexual Selection

Sexual selection is a form of natural selection where certain traits become more common because they improve an individual's chances of attracting a mate. The script discusses sexual selection as a significant driving force in human evolution, where both males and females select mates based on various traits, such as physical appearance, health, and social status.

💡Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt one's thinking and approach to different or unfamiliar situations. In the script, it is highlighted as a key characteristic that has been selected for in human evolution, allowing humans to succeed across a wide range of dominance hierarchies. It is integral to the video's message about human adaptability and the evolution of intelligence.

💡Cortical Expansion

Cortical expansion refers to the increase in size and complexity of the cerebral cortex, which is associated with higher cognitive functions. The script suggests that selection for cognitive flexibility and the ability to navigate social hierarchies led to cortical expansion in humans. This concept ties into the video's exploration of how the human brain evolved to handle complexity.

💡Symmetry

Symmetry in the context of the script is used to describe physical traits that are balanced and proportionate, often associated with health and attractiveness. It is mentioned as a marker used by animals, including humans, to assess the health and genetic quality of potential mates, which is an important aspect of sexual selection.

💡Hero Mythology

Hero mythology is a collection of stories and archetypes that depict the hero's journey, struggles, and triumphs. The script connects hero mythology to the human psyche's ability to succeed across various dominance hierarchies. Heroes are seen as representations of the parts of the psyche that excel in navigating and overcoming challenges, a concept deeply tied to the video's overall narrative about human evolution and adaptability.

💡Multi-purpose Creatures

The term 'multi-purpose creatures' is used in the script to describe humans as beings capable of thriving in a wide range of environments and situations. This concept is used to illustrate how humans, unlike many other species, have evolved to be highly adaptable and versatile, which is a key aspect of the video's discussion on human evolution and the ability to handle complexity.

Highlights

The fundamental problem of human beings is conceptualized as an ongoing struggle with complexity.

Complexity emerges from the finite boundedness of individual consciousness and the unbounded excess everywhere else.

Individual consciousness is related to functions of things too complex to be understood.

People are surrounded by a mix of things they understand and an ocean of things they don't.

The problem of complexity is not obviously solvable due to limited cognitive and conceptual resources.

Cooperating with others multiplies our resources to deal with complexity.

Critique of cooperative societies often overlooks the benefits compared to chaos.

Cooperative systems can be oppressive due to value hierarchies and forced value systems.

Epigenetics shows that acquired traits can be inherited, challenging old models of evolution.

Mutations are not entirely random, and environmental shifts can select for them.

Sexual selection is a significant driver of human evolution, influencing mate choice.

Dominance hierarchies are an old structure that predates many environmental features.

Female choice and male dominance are intertwined in sexual selection.

The peacock's tail is an example of female sexual selection for beauty as a marker of health.

Human mate selection involves evaluating markers of health and success.

Human beings have multiplied dominance hierarchies due to cognitive flexibility.

The hero mythology emerges from the psyche's ability to succeed across multiple dominance hierarchies.

Human beings are general-purpose creatures with a high potential for success in various niches.

Transcripts

so I guess the case that I was making

last time at least in part was that

you're one of one way of conceptualizing

the fundamental problem that human

beings face is to conceptualize it as an

ongoing struggle with complexity and

complexity emerges as a consequence of

the sort of finite boundedness of

individual consciousness and incredible

excess of the unbounded everywhere

everywhere else even including

underneath that consciousness because of

course your individual consciousness

depends on the function or is related to

the function of things that are so

complex you can't even understand it so

there you are surrounded by some things

that you understand in an in an ocean of

things that you don't understand at all

and including things about yourself and

it's not obvious at all how people solve

that problem because in some sense it's

not solvable the fact that you don't

have the cognitive resources or the

conceptual resources to understand

everything that you need to understand

in order to properly orient yourself in

the world

now obviously partly the way we deal

with that is that we cooperate with

other people and so that radically

multiplies our resources credibly

multiplies our resources so and then so

it's something to consider always when

you know so much of the political

dialogue that surrounds us now consists

of a critique of of cooperative

societies and an analysis of their

oppressive nature and of course that's

true because any cooperative system that

specifies a certain end point and

produces a value hierarchy of some sort

also simultaneously forces things into

that value system and then rank orders

people according to the value structure

and so there's an oppressive element to

it but compared to

being naked in chaos generally it's

better now it doesn't always have to be

because it can get murderous but

generally speaking well look we're

social animals it doesn't matter our

evolutionary pathway has already taken

us here and so we're individuals but

we're unbelievably social and so that's

that so as far as I can tell we'd have

to be completely different creatures not

to fall not to take advantage of and

fall prey to the problems with social

being alright so I think the way that

the problem of complexity has been

solved and this is the best argument I

know of for the truth of the Darwinian

notion of evolution now I don't think

that our models of evolution are

complete by any stretch of the

imagination I I know they're not partly

because of recent work done in

epigenetics which suggests that you can

a quat you can inherit acquired traits

right and when I went to university when

I started going to university in the

1980s that was heresy really like no you

cannot inherit acquired traits but

actually you can inherit acquired traits

that's the field of epigenetics studies

that and that that's a radical shift in

perspective because we also don't know

exactly what that means across any

length of time and when you're thinking

about evolutionary lengths of time

you're thinking about three and a half

billion years because that's the span of

time over which life evolved and so even

things that don't have a overwhelmingly

market potency in for one generation can

be unbelievably powerful across time and

then there's also the issue of sex so

sexual selection because you know you'll

hear Darwinists continually describe the

world and the evolutionary world as a

place of randomness and that's not true

it and I don't know why they make that

statement the mutations are random or

quasi random because we don't understand

mutations that well yet either and most

mutations are deadly right most

mutations are deadly there's a set of

them that are harmful but not deadly and

then there's a tiny tiny proportion that

could in prince

will produce some benefit to the next

generation assuming environmental

environmental shift say in the direction

of the mutation so and that's there's a

randomness element to that we know that

I mean part of the reason that you

mutate or your cells mutate your DNA

mutates is because of background levels

of radioactivity and a lot of that's a

consequence of solar activity right so

cosmic rays come zipping through the

atmosphere and they nail your DNA and

produce minor alterations and that's a

mutation and if you crank up the

background radiation rate like say

around Chernobyl then the mutation rate

rises and there's definitely a random

element to that and it's necessary for

there to be a random element because as

far as I can tell the only way you can

beat a random environment is by

producing random changes right so you

know the idea basically the the

environment isn't some static place

that's selecting for higher and higher

levels of fitness or not in any not in

any it's certainly not doing that in any

static way and so it's shifting around

randomly and then you know you have a

structure that's been your species has a

structure that's a consequence of this

immense evolutionary journey and it's

moderating itself randomly within

certain parameters the parameters being

that most mutations will kill you like

alterations in your fundamental form

generally tend to kill you so their

incremental and so the mutations are

random and they match hopefully they

rats the randomness in the environmental

shift and so you can more or less keep

up that way but then there's additional

complicating factors and they're not

trivial and one of them is whatever

epigenetics does we don't know anything

about that yet but the second one is

sexual selection and sexual selection is

no joke it could be the primary thing is

certainly one of the primary things

that's driven human evolution and I

think you can say that you think about

the environment again let's think about

the environment so you have a dominance

hierarchy and that's really an old

structure the dominance hierarchies 300

million years old because it emerged

pretty much whenever there was whenever

there was a nervous system emergent

nervous system and whenever animals had

to occupy the same territory they are

matically organized themselves into

something approximating a dominance

herky so it's a very very very very old

structure it's older than trees it's

older than flowers it's old and as far

as real goes from a Darwinian sense

permanent is real and so when you you

can say well you know or our burrial

ancestors adapted themselves to trees

and so the tree was along around long

enough to be a feature of the

environment but the dominance hierarchy

has been around a lot longer than trees

and you can think of the dominance herky

both as an adaptation to the environment

because you'd kind of think about the

dormant of Turkey as a cultural

construct but if a cultural construct

lasts long enough then it becomes part

of the environment and so the dominant

Turkey is part of the environment and

what seems to happen roughly speaking

and this is an oversimplification but

we'll go with it is that males have a

dominance hierarchy and there's a

relatively small number of males that

are relatively successful and those

successful males have preferential

access to female reproductive capacity

either because the females actively

choose the more dominant males which is

very very common or because the more

dominant males chase all the less

dominant males away so that even if the

females don't exercise choice which they

often do then the only males left around

that can serve as reasonable mating

partners are the more powerful ones and

so you think you've got two really

radical determiners of evolution as a

consequence of that one is that each I'm

not talking about female dominance

hierarchies at the moment but I can talk

about them but that's why this is an

oversimplification but what happens is

that the males obviously are selected

for their ability to move up dominance

hierarchies obviously because the ones

that are at the top of the dominance

hierarchy reproduce preferentially and

so that means the male dominance

hierarchy becomes a method of selection

but then allied with that is the female

proclivity for choice on whatever

dimension the dominance hierarchy

happens to be arranged and so then

female sexual selection also becomes a

route

call non-random selector of of what what

genetic material is going to move into

the next generation

and so I I fail to see how any of that

can be separated from the emergence of

complex nervous systems and mind over

the course of evolution because people

are creatures aren't making random

choices they're not random at all so we

even know such things like imagine a

peacocks tail

you know it's covered with eyes which is

quite interesting because eyes of course

attract attention and lots of animals

have evolved I like markings like moths

there's moss that when they unfold their

wings they have two big eyes on the back

of them and that's to keep birds from

eating them right because the birds

don't like being stared at so they stay

away from the moths but so a peacocks

tail there's nothing but eyes and so

it's very attractive and it's shimmers

and there's something about it that's

beautiful which is quite interesting too

the females have obviously been

selecting the male peacocks for beauty

they have this insane tail while so the

evolutionary biologists have thought

well what possible utility could that

tail be is it just maybe the females got

fixated on tail so to speak and you know

you've got a bald would in fact loop

going there and the male peacocks just

got bigger and bigger tails and it's

just like an evolutionary dead end it's

you know it's a positive feedback list

system that's gone out of control but

they have done things that like look at

the symmetry and and and Brett's say or

the symmetry and size and overall

quality of the male peacocks tail as a

marker for physical health so reduce

parasite load for example and it does

turn out that the healthier male

peacocks have better tail display and so

the way what the females seem to be

doing is using some marker or some set

of markers as a proxy indicator for for

for health and I think I think you could

say with with reasonable you could say

reasonable that reasonably that female

human beings do the same thing to male

human beings and there's some of that

vice-versa too like we evaluate other

for example for symmetry which is one of

the elements of beauty because healthier

people tend to be more symmetrical and

lots of animals use symmetry butterflies

if butterflies won't mate with another

butterfly

if it deviates from symmetry by the

tiniest amounts you can imagine so

symmetry is a marker and there's other

markers like shoulder width to waist

width is 1 and waist width to hip width

is another that's usually what males use

that to evaluate females in part so

there's lots of markers of health but it

also looks to me like that the data

worldwide seems to indicate that women

so imagine that women made across

dominance hierarchies and up

socioeconomically speaking and on

average across cultures women go for men

who are about four to five years older

you know it varies in the Scandinavian

countries that's shrunk a little bit but

not that much and in other cultures it's

bigger I would say that depends to some

degree on difficulty of establishing

economic independence right because in

richer countries it's easier to have

enough economic independence if you're a

male to be to be a useful participant in

the process of having children but it

doesn't matter cross culturally it's

still across and up where men mate to

cross and down they don't care much

about socioeconomic status it doesn't

seem to be part of their selection

method generally speaking so so I think

that part of that is also that the

ability of women to select for for male

health it's something like that because

it isn't that only that because if

you're healthy and energetic you're much

more likely to be successful because

it's very hard to be successful if

you're ill obviously I mean so because

the competition is just too high and

both both genders both sexes select each

other for attractiveness both selector

intelligence both to select for

personality although the difference

there are differences there in terms of

what's what's stressed but so-so

so I think you can derive a couple of

things out of out of this and this is

where I think people are different than

than other animals importantly different

is that so you imagine that there's

tremendous selection pressure to towards

the production let's say of men who are

good at climbing male dominance

hierarchies or climbing the male

dominance hierarchy but the thing that's

so interesting about people is that

we've multiplied our dominance

hierarchies you know if you take an

animal that's got a rather static

behavioral pattern then the

there's a single hierarchy elephant

seals are a good example of that so

elephant seals the males are absolutely

massive they're way way bigger than the

females and they basically have harems

roughly speaking and they use physical

prowess as their marker of status

essentially and obviously size is a huge

part of that because otherwise the male

elephant seals wouldn't be as they're

massive these things are absolutely

enormous and so it's just power slash

health

you know maybe aggression something like

that it's whatever makes them more

suitable for the kind of physical combat

that elephant seals engage in so and the

degree to which power is associated with

dominance status in those sorts of

situations seems to be associated with

the size differential between males and

females so the more power is an issue

with regards to male competence the

larger the males are compared to the

females and the more likely the males

are going to have a harem relationship

with the females and you see that a

little bit in human beings because men

are bigger than women they're not

overwhelmingly bigger that's sexual

dimorphism and you know there's some men

that are smaller than some women but on

average men are taller and they're they

have more upper body strength and so

forth so there is a power element to

male competition but it's not as

extended as it would be among animals

say like like elephant seals so in the

elephant seal you see maybe there's one

stable set of traits that's being

selected for that makes the males more

likely to reproduce but human beings

were very weird creatures because we're

so conceptually flexible and so what

seems to have happened maybe we started

male started selecting each other for

dominance competitions for something

like cognitive flexibility and and

conscientiousness it's something like

that so that would be the ability to

abstractly represent the world and then

the ability operate effectively within

it to represent yourself socially in a

way and then to carry through with that

because that enables people to trust you

so it's something like that and so that

produced cortical expansion and then

women were selecting men who were good

at that and that produced cortical

expansion and then there's an arms race

between women

men with regards to intelligence so the

women kept up or they certainly kept up

with with with intelligence as the

evolutionary cycle continued but one of

the consequences of selection for

cortical expansion and increased

cognitive flexibility was that the

number of dominance harkey's that human

beings could produce started to multiply

right because there's all sorts of ways

that you can be successful there's you

think about how many ways you can be

successful in a modern culture and you

can be successful in dimensions that

aren't really even associated with each

other so you can be successful socially

that that's what an extrovert would do

you could be successful in terms of

intimate relationships that's what an

agreeable person would do a disagreeable

person would be more successful with

regards to competition person who's high

in neuroticism would be would be trying

to protect themselves and to establish

some sort of security an open person

would be looking for a flexible creative

environment and so there's this

multiplicity of of ways that you can

establish a dominance hierarchy and be

successful in it and if you're creative

you can come up with your own damn

dominance hierarchy which is exactly

what you're doing if you're creative

right you you spin up a game that's your

game and then you you make the rules and

that's hard because if you make a new

game with new rules it's hard to

monetize it but you could be the best at

playing that game and so that's a huge

advantage to being creative if you can

pull it off so then you think well

what's happened among human beings is

the multiplication of the set of

possible dominance hierarchies so it's

become very broad and then you could say

well what's what's driving selection now

is the ability to be successful across

multiple sets of dominance hierarchies

and that accounts at least in part for

our cognitive flexibility and so that's

really what a human being is a human

being is a creature that has high

potential for succeeding across a very

wide range of potential human dominance

hierarchies and so that gives us our

transformative psyche that's the niche

that that's the niche that we've both

produced and occupy and I think it's out

of that that hero mythology emerges

fundamentally because I think what the

hero is the mythological hero is a

representation of that part of the

psyche that's particularly good at being

successful across sets of dominance

hierarchies it's a very very biological

way of thinking about it and like I

thought about this for a long time I I

can't see any way that that just can't

be the case and how else how else could

it work if we had a fixed behavioral

pattern like beavers you know you were

the most successful beaver if you build

the best damn it's like fine and then

you know what's going to be selected for

it but that isn't what people are like

and it's also why we're so multi-purpose

you know we have hands what what's a

hand for what's the evolutionary

function of a hand well you can't

specify that you could say it's

something like well the hand is useful

for doing a whole bunch of different

things with well and mouth tongue the

same thing what are words for well it's

the same thing therefore very therefore

communicating a very wide range of

information it's something like that so

we're were these weird general-purpose

animals you know we're not great at any

one thing but we can swim better than

most terrestrial animals you know we can

run faster than most animals and we

could certainly run longer like a human

being can run a horse to death over the

course of a week if they're in good

shape so like we're really good at being

a multi-purpose entity like a rat you

know where they call rats weedy species

because they can be anywhere they don't

have a specific niche like you know

there's animals down in in the Amazon

that they're specialized for like one

tree you know or one type of tree in one

tiny little area that's not what human

beings like is we're we're like

cockroaches or rats which is nasty

comparison but we can go anywhere and

thrive and so and so being particularly

good at that being particularly good at

being able to go anywhere and thrive

also seems to me to be a canonical

element of the hero mythology