Showing off for fun

Charles Darwin was revolted by peacocks: “The sight of a feather in a peacock’s tail,” he wrote, “makes me sick.” What was the point of this showy encumbrance? Such questioning led to the idea of sexual selection, where female birds choose males based on their elegance. Scientists now claim that human peacocks – men and women who prefer sports cars to Honda Civics – are at a disadvantage in finding lasting love. Is this an argument for sending the Porsche for scrap? Not a bit of it. Unlike for peacocks, for humans beauty doesn’t need to serve an evolutionary purpose.