Can biological theories explain Rolex watches in addition to peacock's tails?
As humans, we do many things which are not instrumentally useful in an evolutionary sense: we dance, get drunk, create art, listen to music, and dress up in expensive clothing, amongst other things. These exhibitions of "useless" behaviours cannot be accounted for simply because we are reported to be in an evolutionary disequilibrium (Kirk et al, 2001); even our ancestors exhibited many of these "useless" behaviours. Aborigines have been painting on rocks for at least 50,000 years, and using make up for twice that long; and painting, jewellery and musical instruments have been around for 35,000 years in Europe alone (Pinker, 2002). Indeed, many animal species engage in analogous activities, especially in the contexts of courtship displays and status contests. But how do we explain these seemingly useless behaviours, seen not only in humans, but across the animal world? Darwin (1871) concluded that......
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