Why suicide bombers are Muslim (lack of sex) and liberals are more intelligent: A controversial psychologist's VERY politically incorrect 'truths' about human nature
By NIALL FIRTH
Last updated at 5:22 PM on 30th November 2010
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Satoshi Kanazawa has made waves with his controversial evolution theories
His claim that ugly couples are more likely to have sons made headlines around the world yesterday.
But this is not the first time that evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa has stirred up controversy with his outspoken declarations.
Usually perfectly timed to coincide with his latest book, The London School of Economics researcher has come out with a raft of startling claims about what makes us human.
Already this year he has claimed that men who cheat on their girlfriends or wives are less intelligent.
And he claimed that most suicide bombers are Muslim because they do not have enough sex.
He even gave psychological reasons why liberals are more intelligent than those with more conservative viewpoints.
Yesterday it emerged that he had unearthed new evidence that proved the principle that if a parent has any traits that will benefit one particular sex of child, they will have more of that child.
According to Kanazawa, in women this means physical attractiveness is a trait that is passed down, leading to more baby girls for better-looking women.
His latest book is almost perfectly designed to provoke debate and cause a storm of controversy with almost every entry.
Named 'Ten Politically Incorrect Truths about Human Nature' it uses Kanazawa's evolutionary psychology theories to tackle some difficult subjects.
Scroll down to get an overview of each of Kanazawa’s more controversial theories
Liberals are more intelligent than conservatives
Liberals like Labour leader Ed Miliband 'are more intelligent'
Kanazawa examined the 10-volume compendium The Encyclopedia of World Cultures, which describes all human cultures known to anthropology - more than 1,500 in total.
He found that liberalism was entirely absent in their detailed examinations of each traditional civilisation.
Sharing of resources, especially food, was often mandatory among hunter-gatherer tribes and trade with neighbouring tribes often took place.
Kanazawa discovered that there is no evidence that people in contemporary hunter-gatherer bands freely share resources with members of other tribes.
'It may be reasonable to infer that sharing of resources with total strangers that one has never met or is not likely ever to meet – that is, liberalism – was not part of our ancestral life', he writes.
Kanazawa’s hypothesis, in the same way as with the cheating men (below) is that more intelligent people are able to adapt more readily to novel behaviour.
Liberalism may therefore be evolutionarily novel, and so more intelligent individuals are more likely than less intelligent individuals to espouse liberalism as a value.
He wrote: ‘They [Liberals] control the institutions because liberals are on average more intelligent than conservatives and thus they are more likely to attain the highest status in any area of (evolutionarily novel) modern life.
Read more: Very politically incorrect: Controversial psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa's ten 'truths' about human nature | Mail Online