Episode 79: Roy Baumeister - How Women Shaped Men

Roy Baumeister is a social psychologist, a professor at Florida State University, and the author of many books, including "Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength." During our conversation, Roy speaks at length on a variety of fascinating topics: how and why male homosexuality may have survived through evolution, differences in male and female sexuality, hunter-gatherer parenting styles, marriage and sex, how women have shaped men, the "tragedy of the male sex drive," whether free will exists, and how we might approach our nature with a degree of self-awareness and wisdom.Roy is a brilliant writer, a prolific polymath, and someone who is admired and respected by many who have been on this show.------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------Show notesRate on SpotifyRate on Apple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------(00:00) Intro (02:31) How are there gay people? (07:06) Ideal lifetime sex partners for men vs. women (08:38) The tragedy of the male sex drive (14:49) Lessons from "Too Many Women" (19:41) Quotes from Roy about men and women (23:45) Lesson from Helen Fisher (27:51) The effect of human babies being born prematurely (36:56) Sex, marriage, and "The Sex Diaries"(41:47) Is the expectation of lifelong monogamy unwise? (47:21) Quotes from Roy about willpower (49:06) Does free will exist? (1:00:21) How has evolutionary psychology effected Roy?