Why suicide bombers are Muslim (lack of sex) and liberals are more intelligent: A controversial psychologist's VERY politically incorrect 'truths' about human nature



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.

Women are becoming more beautiful as they have more daughters

Georgia May Jagger and Jerry Hall. Beautiful women often have good-looking daughters

According to Kanazawa’s theory beautiful women have more children than their plainer counterparts, and a higher proportion of those children are girls.

These daughters, once adult, also tend to be attractive and so the pattern continues.

Examples of beautiful celebrity mothers with equally beautiful daughters who are models include Jerry Hall, and her two daughters Elizabeth and Georgia Jagger, and Yasmin Le Bon and daughter Amber – who has recently modelled swimwear.

This pattern has led to women becoming steadily more beautiful over the generations, according to the theory.

However, psychologists believe women are becoming more attractive as they are making more of an effort with their looks, and have more resources to do so than ever before.

Men meanwhile apparently remain as aesthetically unappealing as their caveman ancestors.

Men who cheat are stupid, because humans are naturally polygamous

Here the theory is based on the assertion that through evolutionary history, men have always been 'mildly polygamous'.

That has changed today, however, and Dr Kanazawa explained that entering a sexually exclusive relationship is an 'evolutionarily novel' development for them.

According to his theory, intelligent people are more likely to adopt what in evolutionary terms are new practices - to become 'more evolved'.

Therefore, in the case of fidelity, men who cannot adapt and end up succumbing to temptation and cheating are likely to be more stupid.

'The theory predicts that more intelligent men are more likely to value sexual exclusivity than less intelligent men,' he explained.

According to his theory, the link between fidelity and intelligence does not apply to women because they have always been expected to be faithful to one mate - even in polygamous societies.

Why some people spend every Saturday night alone

The traits sought after by men and women are culturally universal; men everywhere in the world want women to have traits such as youth and beauty, women want men to be powerful and wealthy.

Kanazawa comforts people who do not fit into either of these stereotypes with the words: 'You may be comforted to know that you are not alone in your plight; there are losers like you everywhere in the world, and for the same reasons.’

These reasons, Kanazawa goes on to say, are that if you are alone on a Saturday night it is ‘because you probably don’t possess the qualities that members of the opposite sex seek in potential mates.’

Why men like blonde bombshells

Actress Marilyn Monroe was a perfect example of all of the traits that men desire

Women want to look like Barbie with a small waist, large breasts, long blond hair, and blue eyes is because it is a direct response to the reasons men want to mate with her.

Men prefer young women because they tend to be healthier than older women, which makes reproductive sense.



Healthy women have shiny, healthy-looking hair and blonde hair displays grey hairs less obviously than dark hair. Blonde hair also changes dramatically with age so that older women are more likely to have browner hair. Men are drawn to younger women as they are typically healthier and more fertile.



Men also want women with large breasts as it's an indication of how fertile they are, according to some studies. For the same reason a large waist-to-hip ratio is preferred.

Blue eyes are preferred because they display when the pupil dilates more readily than darker eyes. Pupils dilate when a person sees something they like and so someone with blue eyes displays their dilation, and therefore approval, more readily.



Why most suicide bombers are Muslim

The linking of suicide bombers with sex made this one of his most controversial theories.

But while suicide missions are not always religiously motivated, when religion is involved, it is always Muslim, says Kanazawa.

Kanazawa states that in societies where polygyny is allowed – taking more than one wife, such as in Islam - there is a necessary number of men who are unable to mate because of the simple mathematics involved.

He says this is what makes men more violent or aggressive – they are competing for a mate.

According to his theory, this increased competitive pressure on men ‘increases the likelihood that young men resort to violent means to gain access to mates because they have little to lose and much to gain by doing so, compared to men who already have wives.’

CCTV of the 7/7 suicide bombers - who were all Muslim. Kanazawa sparked controversy by suggesting that the a lack of sex is to blame for their violent behaviour

This is why, across all societies, polygyny increases violent crimes, such as murder and rape, even after controlling for such obvious factors like economic development, economic inequality, population density, the level of democracy and world regions.’

He goes on to say that the idea that 72 virgins await a martyr can inspire young men in this situation to go on to become suicide bombers.

He writes: ‘For young, low-status Muslim men who are excluded from any mating opportunities because of polygyny among older, higher-status men, even such a vague promise in the afterlife begins to be appealing in light of their bleak reproductive prospect on earth.’

Having sons reduces the likelihood of divorce

As we have seen, a man's value as a mate is largely determined by his wealth, status and power.

A father is important to his son in ensuring he inherits wealth, status and power but he can do little to keep his daughter youthful or beautiful.

His continued presence in the family is important to the son but not as crucial to his daughter. He writes: ‘Strictly in reproductive terms, there is very little that fathers (or anyone else) can do for daughters beyond keeping them alive and healthy.

‘The presence of sons therefore deters divorce and departure of the father from the family more than the presence of daughters, and this effect should be stronger among wealthy families.'

What Bill Gates and Paul McCartney have in common with criminals

A theory known as the ‘age-crime curve’ says that risk-taking behaviour increases in early adolescence, peaks in early adulthood, decreases through someone’s 20s and 30s, before levelling off in middle age.

The curve also relates to behaviour that is different, also known as the age-genius curve. The expression of a person’s genius is most likely to find its fullest expression in their late adolescence and early adulthood, just like the young Beatle and technology pioneer.

This applies mostly to men, who like to make any behaviour that differentiates themselves from the competition as public as possible. The age-crime or age-genius curve in women is far less pronounced as they are not competing for mates in the same way.

Age-genius: Paul McCartney and Bill Gates were both at their most creative when they were young, and the most competitive



Kanazawa uses the example of Paul McCartney having not written a ‘hit song in decades’ while Gates is a businessman, no longer a computer whiz kid.

Their early moments of creative breakthrough were down to a competitive instinct which compelled them to make the most of their abilities. Once men have children the cost in effort of maintaining this level drops.

Kanazawa says that men go to huge efforts to convince women to sleep with them and that many of man’s achievements are down to this fact.

He writes: ‘Men have had to conquer foreign lands, win battles and wars, compose symphonies, author books, write sonnets, paint cathedral ceilings, make scientific discoveries, play in rock bands, and write new computer software in order to impress women so that they will agree to have sex with them.‘

Why the midlife crisis is a myth

Men go through their mid-life crisis only because their wives are going through one, Kanazawa declared.

When a woman reaches the menopause she can no longer reproduce and so men find themselves compelled to try and attract younger women who can.

Kanazawa claims that men who marry younger women are unlikely to have a mid-life crisis themselves because this event will not take place

He says: ‘It's not his midlife that matters; it's hers. When he buys a shiny-red sports car, he's not trying to regain his youth; he's trying to attract young women to replace his menopausal wife by trumpeting his flash and cash.’

Why male politicians risk everything to have an affair

Powerful men throughout Western history have married monogamously - only one legal wife at a time - but they have always mated polygynously by having lovers, concubines, and female slaves.

Clinton responds to a question during his videotaped testimony when he was questioned over the Lewinsky affair

So why would Bill Clinton, as President of the United States, risk everything to have sex with a younger intern? The reason, Kanazawa states, is that men only push for more political power in order to have access to more women with which to mate.

The only thing that distinguishes Clinton is that he was caught.

Men sexually harass women because they are not sexist

Another controversial theory, this time that men who intimidate women in the workplace are doing so because they are not sexist, not because they are.

The psychologist says that men use abuse, intimidation, and degradation as part of their tactics employed in competitive situations. This is how they would act with men, too. If they treat women the same, it cannot be sexism.