Survival of the Prettiest Audiobook By Nancy Etcoff cover art

Survival of the Prettiest

The Science of Beauty

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Survival of the Prettiest

By: Nancy Etcoff
Narrated by: Donna Postel
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A provocative and thoroughly researched inquiry into what we find beautiful and why, skewering the myth that the pursuit of beauty is a learned behavior.

In Survival of the Prettiest, Nancy Etcoff, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, argues that beauty is neither a cultural construction, an invention of the fashion industry, nor a backlash against feminism - it's in our biology.

Beauty, she explains, is an essential and ineradicable part of human nature that is revered and ferociously pursued in nearly every civilization - and for good reason. Those features to which we are most attracted are often signals of fertility and fecundity. When seen in the context of a Darwinian struggle for survival, our sometimes extreme attempts to attain beauty - both to become beautiful ourselves and to acquire an attractive partner - suddenly become much more understandable. Moreover, if we understand how the desire for beauty is innate, then we can begin to work in our own interests, and not just the interests of our genetic tendencies.

©1999 Nancy Etcoff (P)2019 Tantor Beauty, Grooming & Style Biological Sciences Biology Evolution Evolution & Genetics Gender Studies Science Social Sciences Thought-Provoking
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Enjoyed listening to this book. The author makes some very good points. Really enjoy the fact that it’s grounded in scientific research.

Educational and interesting

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ut's interesting to discover how beauty has progressed through the centuries and how strong biology is to favor and cultivate this gift of genes. A candid view of beauty in sociological and biological terms.

Candid observation of beauty in society & biology

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Despite being published originally 20 years ago, the science of “why” there’s “survival of the prettiest”, still remains firm over millennia ... an excellent performance and compilation of everything from why we curl our eyelashes, to the color and style of fabric that’s chosen - based on displayed signals explained in selection through survival of the most appealing conditions across the planet. Explaining the features fluctuating and correlating with environmental conditions like sunlight reflecting off snow (causing fatty pads around the eyes) or cooler climates supporting the longer, warming nasal passages in comparison to warm areas with wider, open nostrils seen in varieties of the human race.

An intriguing read

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I really enjoyed it. Highly recommend. Moved fast, a bit dense but well written. I learned a lot.

A bit dense but I learned a lot and very interesting

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this book deals with it all..... political influences racial influences geographical influences, societal influences, Anatomy, physiology, biology. The amount of statistics and evidence used to support her argument are amazing. She also seems to have some genuine insight into various ethnic groups. It is a straightforward and clear read but yet loaded with thought-provoking ideas! You have to read and reread it to be sure to capture everything she is trying to communicate. best read of the year so far!

who is this lady?

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Filled with evidence, humorous and intriguing anecdotes from notable figures, and written in a way that gracefully captures your attention. Donna Postel does an amazing job.

Immersive

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te ayuda a comprender muchas cosas que día a día te ayudan o no en la vida

iluminador

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📚....

Insightful, interesting and informative...

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It may just be me but I struggled to get through this book because of the reader. Originally at first listen I thought it was a computer generated voice and not a real person. I managed to press on because the content was super interesting to me and the book is super informative! However the tone, cadence, and style of the reader were so bad that I had to take breaks and jump around to other audio books. It felt like a chore to listen even though the topic itself is so interesting to me.

Great content but not a fan of the reader

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