Christopher Ryan TED Talk

I love Sex at Dawn- many of you know if we are friends or if you’ve followed this blog since the beginning that the book is what kick started J and I into exploring nonmonogamy. There are those out there who find the book and arguments within it preposterous or outlandish or unsubstantiated. And the truth is- you can argue just about anything, especially when it gets into prehistorical human behaviors. But the overarching argument Ryan and Jetha make (that humans are evolutionarily and naturally promiscuous and that monogamy is a social construct) still holds for us, and the evidence that they bring together provides a really strong foundation for their argument. I still recommend that book highly to anyone who asks about it.

Here is Ryan on TED; it’s a solid video worth watching, and would be a great introduction for people who haven’t yet read the book and a nice recount for those of us who have read it.

2 thoughts on “Christopher Ryan TED Talk

  1. My husband and I are reading this book right now. It’s good so far (he’s a slow reader, so I’m trying to be patient and not read ahead).

  2. I have heard criticisms that the authors had this conclusion in advance and looked for work that would justify it. But I found the book’s arguments quite compelling. I don’t have the anthro perspectives to challenge any of their findings on hunter-gatherer cultures. But the logic does make sense. In that I am far more of a communitarian and poly-amorous person at heart, their reasoning resonated well with my own analysis of human behavior. I recommend the book highly.

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