Book · 1994 · Sex (Psychology)
The Evolution of Desire
Strategies of Human Mating
- mentions
- 12
- people
- 3
- podcasts
- 2
- episodes
- 10
- critical mentions
- 0
Bus had in the evolution of desire I swear one of the lines that's still in my readwise is the single biggest predictor of extrammarital sex is premarital sex.
Chris Williamson · Modern Wisdom · Dec 2025 Listen at 1:09:38 What they say about it
- Recommended reading“read the evolution of desire”3
- Predictor of extramarital sex“single biggest predictor of extramarital sex”2
- Brain areas and sexual reward“area of our brains which give us reward”2
The best things said about it
He wrote a book called The Evolution of Desire. And in it, he explains how men have an area of our brains which give us reward if we look at something that's sexual.
Chris Williamson Modern Wisdom · Jun 2025 Read go to the cave read the evolution of desire.
Chris Williamson Modern Wisdom · Sep 2022 Doctor Buss has authored many important books, a few of those include, The Evolution of Desire.
Andrew Huberman Huberman Lab · Nov 2021 It led me to discover the evolution of desire by David Buss whose lab I'm in right now.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
How it comes up
Why people recommend it
The Evolution of Desire by David M. Buss is a foundational text in evolutionary psychology that explores human mating strategies, attraction, and the biological underpinnings of romantic relationships. Chris Williamson frequently recommended the book on Modern Wisdom, suggesting it to listeners interested in evolutionary psychology and pairing it with other works on masculinity and mating. Andrew Huberman also highlighted the book on Huberman Lab, recognizing Dr. David Buss as a leading researcher who has published dozens of landmark scientific studies alongside his influential literature. Throughout multiple episodes of Modern Wisdom, Williamson and various guests referenced specific insights from the text, such as the idea that premarital sex serves as a major predictor of extramarital behavior, and discussed evolutionary mechanisms regarding how the human brain processes attraction and rewards visual stimuli. The book is frequently brought up to contextualize modern dating dynamics, mating psychology, and the fundamental differences in how men and women perceive potential partners. Podcasters and experts praise the text for providing a rigorous, science-backed framework to understand deeply ingrained human behaviors, offering listeners clarity on romance, long-term commitment, and the evolutionary drivers behind human desire.
Every mention
Chris Williamson or David buses the evolution of Desire Jeffrey Miller The Mating mind 9
“Have you read the book The Evolution of Desire by David Bus?”
“Bus had in the evolution of desire I swear one of the lines that's still in my readwise is the single biggest predictor of extrammarital sex is premarital sex.”
“He wrote a book called The Evolution of Desire. And in it, he explains how men have an area of our brains which give us reward if we look at something that's sexual.”
“This guy reached out to him after he read the evolution of desire and in it David talks about an area of the brain that specifically gets turned on in men.”
“Dude, the best story around this, David Bus wrote uh the evolution of desire and he was telling me this story.”
“I seem to remember a line from one of David's books maybe the evolution of I can't remember um where he said that the single biggest predictor of extramarital sex is premarital sex”
“or David buses the evolution of Desire Jeffrey Miller The Mating mind”
“read go to the cave read the evolution of desire”
“I um I was reading Robert Wright's uh book recently which always has some it's was written in the '90s when he did uh when he first wrote his his book on evolutionary psychology. There's this section in there that says the Madonna-whore dichotomy.”
Andrew Huberman In addition to publishing dozens of landmark scientific studies, Doctor Buss has authored many important bo… 1
“In addition to publishing dozens of landmark scientific studies, Doctor Buss has authored many important books, a few of those include, The Evolution of Desire,”
William Costello but it led me to discover the evolution of desire by david buss whose lab i'm in right now 1
“but it led me to discover the evolution of desire by david buss whose lab i'm in right now”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
“and then from that you can tumble into David buss's Men Behaving Badly uh or David buses the evolution of Desire Jeffrey Miller The Mating mind um but start off with Steve's book that's great”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
“you wrote a whole book on murder I wrote a whole book on murder yeah uh you know uh yeah the murderer next door”
“if I were to alert your listeners to one I would say the first one to start with would be the evolution of Desire because that gives a broad overview of human strategies of human mating”
“his many books include the evolution of desire strategies of human mating evolutionary psychology”
“and i remember when i wrote my first book the evolution of desire strategies of human mating i had a this whole section on”
“It's called, The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating. And it gives people a broad overview of what people want in a mate, tactics of attraction, tactics of mate retention, and so forth, throughout the whole mating process, serial mating, causes of divorce, and so forth.”