The Economy of Nature and the Evolution of Sex  

"Scratch an 'altruist', and watch a 'hypocrite' bleed" --Michael Ghiselin, on human nature in The Economy of Nature and the Evolution of Sex (1974)

“Man's brain, like the rest of him, may be looked upon as a bundle of adaptations. But what it is adapted to has never been self- evident. We are anything but a mechanism set up to perceive the truth for its own sake. Rather we have evolved a nervous system that acts in the interest of our gonads and one attuned to the demands of reproductive competition. If fools are more prolific than wise men then to that degree folly will be favored by selection. And if ignorance aids in obtaining a mate, then men and women will tend to be ignorant. In order to so imperfect an instrument as the human brain to perceive the world as it really is, a great deal of self discipline must be imposed."--The Economy of Nature and the Evolution of Sex (1974) by Michael Ghiselin