Few acts in the living world involve more intimate cooperation than sex. Two individuals combining their DNA to create a new and unique individual. And that’s only conception. In long-lived species, especially our own, it can take decades of hard cooperative work to raise a family.

But the mirror-twin of this capacity for self-sacrificing parental cooperation is an inherent susceptibility for conflict. Regular readers of this column will recognise a common theme: females and males in general, and women and men in particular, tend to differ in their evolutionary interests. From whether or not to mate, how many offspring to bear, how long to care for them before weaning or kicking them out, and whether to begin the whole business over again, what’s good for the goose isn’t always what’s good for the gander.

When you research and write about sexual conflict for a living, the newspapers look a whole lot different. Conflict between women and men pervades every sphere of human life. Here are a few stories that caught my attention this week:

These stories lurch between absurdity and utter tragedy. But they, and others like them, compel our attention because they concern the central dilemma of sex and relationships: the differing interests of the partners – or potential partners – involved.

These are the differences of interest that romantic love evolved to ameliorate, however imperfectly. They are the dark force that animates great art, from Thesmophoriazusae to Madame Bovary, and from Carmen to Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Economists, too, are fascinated by the push-pull of cooperation and conflict over sex, reproduction and family life. Which is why, this week, Jason Collins, some colleagues at UNSW’s Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, and I are hosting an exciting mix of evolutionary biologists, economists and social scientists to discuss our research on these complex issues.

I hope, in the coming weeks to post about some of the talks at the conference, and the connections made. In the mean time, Sydneysiders interested in these issues might enjoy either of two public lectures that are happening as part of the conference.

*Both events are followed by canapés and drinks, so you’ll need to register by following the linked talk titles, above.