WHy the Mind is Designed to Kill
David M. Buss
I would be very interested to find out if the research in this book was properly peer reviewed, as in many places there seems to be contradiction, a lack of rigor, and questionable methodlogy as it is presented. I am fully aware that many times research details fall victim to ease of reading and communication for a mass marketed book, but many places in this book are problematic, although the underlying hypothesis is interesting.
Some examples of these concerns are: including centuries old accounts and information as to the habits and lives of tribal and indigenous peoples, as told by colonizing rulers, with equal credence as modern studies, and a failure to look at them as possibly prejudiced by the social beliefs of the time. Buss also does not distinguish between premeditated murders, those commited in the heat of passion, and those committed in self defense, viewing them instead as all sub-genres of the same thing; while this might technically be true, as they all result in the taking of lives, it could be argued that they come from a vastly different place. In addition, he presents everything as a result of evolutionary psychology, dismissing and ignoring the issues presented by societal forces. While he does attempt to support this via several anthropological and ethnic studies of non-Western people, he fails to account for potential observer and cultural biases in these observations.
While I do find the premise interesting, and indeed would like to see further research and study into the theories contained within this book, judging by the presentation of these theories, I would encourage a reader to look at this book with a dose of scepticism.
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