The Handicap Principle: A Missing Piece of Darwin's Puzzle

Extrapolating James A Shapiro's concept of "Natural Genetic Engineering", imagine that you are a quantum-consciousness-spirit designing your control cascades ( what's the wave, what's the float ? ).Genetic Entropy is a problem. Quantum-consciousness only needs an infinitesimal amount of force to tweak things, by analogy to the force required to deflect an asteroid from a collision with earth, if your application of force is COHERENT you don't need a lot of force. So quantum-consciousness can fight Genetic Entropy, but only to a certain degree. What you need, is a MECHANISM to fight Genetic Entropy - how about Sexual Selection ?Even Dawkins says that Sexual Selection is underrated, I think I saw that in an interview he did with David Attenborough. But what if Sexual Selection were DESIGNED by the peacock-spirit to fight Genetic Entropy, not so that evolution can move forward, that's way too difficult, but merely to avoid backsliding.

This book answers questions the kind bright children ask. I have based my peacock story and others on its fascinating observations. Clever, sensitive, appreciative and engaging facts about animals that make you think of people's communication and behavior. Who's cleverer?

This is a giant book. It will change your view of the world and there is no better outcome for reading. This book stirred my imagination and thinking. It is full of aha moments and it is devastatingly cold to fate of the human and the animal.

Why does the peacock grow that tail? Why does the springbok leap straight up into the air when it sees a predator? Why do people behave heroically? The handicap principle answers these questions, eloquently, simply and with an overwhelming sense of conviction. The peacock is advertising his fitness. He is saying to the female in essence, I am so fit I can carry around this cumbersome adornment and still scratch out a very fine living. The springbok is saying to the predator: don't even think about going after me. I am in such good shape I can waste energy jumping up and down and still have plenty of reserves to outrun you. Save us both the bother and go after someone weaker. (By the way, the springbok jumps straight up instead of sideways because by jumping straight up its performance can be effectively judged by a predator from any direction.) And the man who dives into the swiftly flowing river to save a drowning child is actually advertising his fitness and improving his station in society. He is so fit he can take chances that others dare not. He's the man the women want to mate with.The Handicap Principle thus is about signals, signals between prey and predator, between one sex and the other, and between the individual and the group. The purpose of these signals is to display in an unequivocal way the fitness of the signaler. Note that such signals have to be "fake proof." They have to be what the authors call "reliable." An animal that can't run fast and has limited resources of energy can't waste them jumping in the air. It needs to get going immediately or to stay hidden if it is to have any chance of survival. A man leads with his chin. That's a signal that he's confident. When men had beards it was a little dangerous to stick your chin out since the other guy might grab your beard and you could be in trouble. People demonstrate wealth by wasting money. This is a "reliable" (if ugly) signal because without an ample supply of money, you can't afford to waste it.Part of the beauty of this book comes from the personality of the authors, who spent a large part of their lives studying little babbler birds in Israel. I feel I know these little social birds just from the loving descriptions in the text. One can see that even though the Zahavis made their discovery of the handicap principle in 1975 and waited almost two decades before it was generally accepted in the scientific community, they harbor no bitterness, nor is their tone at all gloating. They come across as hard-working field scientists who love their work and nature.Besides being full of exciting and original ideas, The Handicap Principle is also extremely well written. Each sentence is clear and to the point without the burden of unnecessary jargon or the wordy clumsiness sometimes found in such books. Amotz and Avishag Zahavi took great pride in effectively communicating their ideas to a wide audience. Additionally there are scores of exquisite, loving little black and white drawings by illustrator Amir Balaban of animals, birds, insects and people, etc., illuminating the text.If you're interested in evolutionary theory, this is a book not to be missed. As Jared Diamond says on the cover, "Read this fine book, and discover what the excitement is all about."--Dennis Littrell, author of "Understanding Evolution and Ourselves"

Buy this book.Honestly, it is surprising how few reviews are on this title, given how well it was written. If you are reading through the reviews you will notice one reader gave it 2 stars for a concern over a possible failure to concatenate Zhavi's theories with that of reciprocal altruism. With no disrespect to that reviewer or anyone else who may find disfavor in this book, I would argue that there is so much quality information and poise in writing this book; it is hard to give it any less than four stars. The Handicap Principle can be appreciated by career scientist in the biological field and laymen alike. The information in this book gives many strong examples supporting the author's premise of evolutionary themes, risky behaviors by animals, social hierarchy in birds, and the development of specific physical qualities of animals that serve a pragmatic purpose.Even if you are not an avid reader of animal behavior this book has a lot to offer in terms of what it means for humans socially. At the least, the book is written clearly and will provide some educational entertainment. The author does not write as provocative as some other evolutionary biologist such as Dawkins, which is good for those who have trouble reading works that may conflict with their belief system. From the perspective of seeking general information regarding the themes discussed in this book and wanting to read some informative examples showcasing those themes I have to give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I've spent the last 20 years ploughing through evolutionary biology, from a Maths background. I got taken in hook line and sinker by all the trendy theories of group selection, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, self deception. I believed them all. But then read a book with a quote by Randy Ness saying that altruism was one of the most troubling concepts to teach. How could a gene exist that tells its carrier to reduce its own fitness for someone else? Of course as Darwin pointed out we are sexually selected. I would recommend reading up on that as well. The Mating Mind (Miller) and The Evolution of Desire (Buss). Choosing partners is therefore one of the most important decisions each of us makes, especially women as they have much greater investment and risk. How to do know who is best to mate with? The Zahavi brothers answer that in this book. Though the big picture is much more complex as culture is involved. Cosmides and Tooby and the masters of how the mind actually evolved, and these system of mate choice and costly signalling are just component parts of a more complex system - though each subunit is specialised and information specific. Signalling theory is behind much of the Zahavi's book and I would recommend the 1978 paper "Animal Signalling" by Dawkins and Krebs. Yes. That Dawkins.

Zahavi & Zahavi's idea of 'costly signalling' (in which animals 'handicap' themselves to prove their reproductive fitness) is hugely useful when applied to human storytelling behaviours. In 'Comeuppance', William Flesch detects costly signalling in fictional narratives, but it's also present in self-storytelling. For example, when we share intimate personal information, we hope the rest of our group will 'catch us' - and if the signal fails, our status may fall. Alternatively, we may attack a social media user who has offended our group to demonstrate our strength.

Il mio libro preferito... non aggiungo altro!!!