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Analysis Of Sex, Murder And The Meaning Of Life By Douglas Kenrick

1944 Words8 Pages

For the majority of my life I have lived blindly. I think most people often do. We go about our daily life oblivious of what our actions actually mean. Humans are extraordinarily complex creatures and it is bewildering how little most people actually know about themselves, myself included. However, Douglas Kenrick’s Sex, Murder and the Meaning of Life provided insight explaining the depths of my actions. I never reflected much on my actions, nor attributed them to being caused by anything other than my own thoughts; but I was amazed reading Kenrick’s book seeing how much of an enormous role my ancestors have shaped me. Reading this book has allowed me to pry open my eyes and dive deep within the inner workings of myself and understand my true self and how I have evolved.
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The chapters tie in to the overall assumption that modern human’s positive characteristics such as generosity and love, evolved from our ancestor’s selfishness. As the title implies, Kenrick elaborates on relationships, murder, and the meaning of life. Some relationship interaction research was based off Kenrick’s hypothesis that men’s biased attentional processes might mislead them into overestimating the ratio of attractive to average-looking women in crowds. He also tested to see how men and women’s feelings about themselves changed when they saw either a beautiful woman or a successful man. Kenrick discloses to the reader his tough upbringing in New York. He was constantly in fights, and his father and other close relatives and friends were in prison. His upbringing has led him to have homicidal fantasies, and he hypothesized that everyone has them as well. His research concluded that the majority of his 760 students had contemplated murder at least

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