
Evolution Paradox - Why Some People Are More Attractive Than Others (2007) - kqr2
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/evolution_paradox_why_some_people_are_more_attractive_others_explained
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hugh3
I assume the actual journal paper makes more sense, but I don't think this is
much of an explanation of it. As I understand it the "Lek paradox" doesn't
apply to humans, it only applies to animals that mate in leks.

A "lek" is a kind of display where all the males compete for attention among
all the females. The one who wins the lek gets to mate with _all_ the females,
while the others go home frustrated. The supposed paradox is then the question
of why, if the females always pick the best-quality males, doesn't this erode
genetic diversity within a number of generations to the point where all the
males are indistinguishable awesome?

While weak analogies between leks and certain forms of human behaviour are
obvious, it's really not the same thing; in a lekking species only a tiny
portion of the males in any generation will actually procreate. For humans, it
is (I assume) well over 50% (varying by culture, no doubt) so the persistence
of ugly people is not puzzling.

