THE ASCENT OF MASHIE NIBLICK :

World according to Golf (Steve Sailer, 8/14/02, UPI)

Why does modern man (and, to a lesser extent, modern woman) spend so much money building golf courses? Why does the modern American golf course appeal
so strongly to the male eye? [...]

Surprisingly, as I found out during a conference on evolution and human behavior held in the beautiful countryside west of Moscow, a number of scientists now believe that a love of golf course-like landscapes may be hardwired by evolution into many human brains.

[Dr. Irenaeus] Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that people, especially men, find such well-watered grasslands appealing because they were suited to our hunter-gatherers ancestors, who evolved on the grassy savannas of East Africa hunting big game.

Another lecturer at the conference, Linda Mealey, an evolutionary psychologist at Minnesota's College of St. Benedict, speculated, "Golfing seems to substitute for hunting in many men these days."

Before we get too carried away, if we accept evolution, the landfills we build must also fill some such purpose, as must a Wal-Mart, and tract housing. All behavior must be a product of, or must still serve, some survival function, both the building of a golf course and its opposite, say paving it and turning it into a parking lot . It's stories like this one that really show how infinitely plastic and therefore absurd is the theory when pushed to its logical conclusions. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 15, 2002 7:34 PM