I found chapter three to be particularly interesting. I love learning about the connections between our behavior and evolution. It reminds me that humans are just animals with survival and adaptation acting as motivators for our behaviors. When reading specifically about selecting a mate and mate value, as well as watching the documentary "The Science of Sex Appeal" on the slides, I couldn't help but think about what was really going on in my mind when I first met my boyfriend four years ago. We first met in passing through a mutual friend. Just a quick "Hi, nice to meet you" and he was gone. I was immediately drawn to his physical attractiveness, of course because that's all I had to go by. Perhaps I was really attracted to his genes (according to the good gene hypothesis) and unconsciously connected his good looks to intelligence and health. I also might have been attracted to his voice, which is more towards the low end of the spectrum. This could have signaled to me that he had more testosterone, and therefore was of higher mate value to me. Upon our next few meetings, I was more and more attracted to him. I learned much more about him including his love for music and guitar, and his aspirations to become a surgeon. Because he was a musician, he must have had higher mate value. Also, I loved how passionate he was about becoming a doctor one day. I guess I am like most other women all over the world who value ambition and industriousness. I also may have been drawn to his pre-med status because I connected it with good financial prospects and the benefits they would have on raising a family. He was also very extroverted and confident, and seemed to be "peacocking" in my presence through playing music, telling jokes, etc. I was obviously drawn to this as well.
I can now say that when looking back on what I once referred to as "chemistry", I can now refer to as evolution.
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This is interesting because I just finished a Social Psychology course. We learned that it depends on what the female is looking for in a man that determines the type of man she will end up with. As your post stated, physical attractiveness is the first thing people notice about each other. If the woman is looking for a short term one night stand, this physical attractiveness may be all she needs. If the woman is looking for someone to settle down with and start a family than she will take other things into consideration. She will look at their family background (genes) as well as their future goals and ambitions. Also, I also read that a man who became rich because he won the lottery is less attractive than a man who became rich because he worked hard for it.
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