"The Consuming Instinct" by Gad Saad
A book about how evolution guides our preferences in the marketplace.
I was once quite taken aback to see a dentist friend of mine express skepticism about what they labeled to be the “theory” of evolution on their WhatsApp status. Social media is not the space for nuance and I ought to have kept scrolling but in this case, I simply could not resist.
I pointed out to them that the very annoying wisdom tooth- the extraction of which would pay quite a bit of dividend in their future practice, was a tangible (or should I say extractable) proof of the “theory” they sought to disprove.
This book provides numerous more proofs for the reality of evolution and goes a step further to explain the consumeristic behaviours that we have tied to it. I was able to connect it to another book I am in the process of reading which deems that even though human brains were designed to avoid getting eaten in the African savannah, today it is able to comprehend and pursue much more.
Work in Tandem
My previous post on Richard Dawkins was reflective of an integrated approach between the sciences and the humanities. Gad Saad ends this book on a similar note.
In particular, one should not reduce a human being solely to a Darwinian animal subscribing to innate needs and therefore consuming from the world around them in a similar fashion. Instead, evolutionary reality ought to drive other fields and their understanding.
I was particularly intrigued by Saad’s segments on reading literary texts and visual texts through the evolutionary lens. Such a perspective is urgently lacking in my own field and whenever applied often does not follow the basic scientific methods.
Evolutionary Products
Likewise, Saad’s segment on religion was quite powerful. He dubs religion to be the “perfect product” in the sense that it commands the best “brand” loyalty and affiliation of anything else. Here too, the addition of the evolutionary perspective lends a sensible explanation to queries that often get lost in a philosophical farrago.
Similarly, to see how aspects like the level of spice in food products, visual cues in advertisements, appetite for risk-taking and evaluation before and after lunch all tie into the evolutionary perspective is a deeply rewarding reading.
Akin to Dawkins’ selfish genes and survival machines, I would like to emphasize that human beings ought to go beyond their bare evolutionary needs.
In fact, they often do.
Many of Saad’s conclusions emphasize that the rational part is often operative and is overridden only in certain circumstances.
Do read the book, either in an act of consumerism or a more needed borrow from your nearest library. It is vital for us to be more aware as consumers of the drives that pine on our wallets and attention-spans alike.
However, I do believe that you are an evolved species beyond your means and within the humdrum of dopamine-hungry content, my newsletter will merit a follow. Go and share the same and venture out into our stimulus-riddled world slightly more aware of why sugar is so appealing and the colour red ever so attractive.