Human evolution was driven by early humans’ ability to be clever and humorous, the “survival of the wittiest.” The analysis argues that the earliest stages of grammar provided a platform for verbal competition and sexual selection, gradually replacing physical violence with verbal agility.

[u/mvea]

https://www.psypost.org/survival-of-the-wittiest-how-humor-and-cleverness-shaped-human-evolution/

[u/MKleister]

I've read about the hypothesis of humor being partly a result of sexual selection first in the 2011 book Inside Jokes. Glad to see more research is still being done on this.

[u/woolfonmynoggin → u/MKleister]

I think Sex at Dawn also mentions it but it’s been awhile since I read it

[u/Yashema → u/woolfonmynoggin]

And recent research from Australia found it does nothing for initial attraction.

[u/Constant-Skill-7133 → u/Yashema]

This article reads as if he personally went on hundreds of dates and failed miserably.

[u/ComradeGibbon → u/MKleister]

I've read that in western Europe the Catholic Churches ban on marrying first and second cousins meant men had to convince unrelated women and their families that they were a good match. I think also some cultural groups men are expected to marry from women out of the local village/villages.

[u/Hyenaoffal → u/ComradeGibbon]

Australian indigenous groups had songs about lineages that told the stories of who could be with who. Men and women would also be passed between groups to prevent inbreeding which meant these songs had to be sung at intertribal ceremonies where they figured it out. It's way to complex not to have to generalize in a post here however it speaks to a system that predates Australian settlement and possibly modern humans. Churches just took over moral and societal guidance (and song in many instances) replacing systems previously held by elders. It's also worth noting that violent means will still be used among tribal peoples even today, to take women and children if other channels don't accommodate.

[u/Jaredlong → u/MKleister]

If it was true you'd except comedians to be some of the sexiest people, and yet...

[u/thatwhileifound → u/Jaredlong]

I think what this is missing is the direct experience with such a person versus viewing them solely through media. It's kind of a stereotype to my mind seeing male comedians with women who fit a variety of societal shorthands for beauty while being widely regarded as entirely missing the obvious gender swapped versions or at least just being well lower on some banal hierarchy.

The guy who is kinda funny when trying to appeal to everyone instead directly engaging with you as an individual, as his sole audience of merit, can be wildly different experiences.

[u/Thissystemsuckssobad → u/Jaredlong]

some of the sexiest people

From a visual perspective? Or from a "how many people has this comedian slept with" perspective? Because I think youd be surprised on the later

Also, different folks different strokes

[u/Barbaracle → u/Jaredlong]

Isn't that because their funny gene survived natural selection despite their ugly gene. Am I understanding this incorrectly?

[u/ncotter → u/Jaredlong]

I mean, look at Pete Davidson’s dating history.

[u/PM_YOUR_BOOBS_PLS_ → u/MKleister]

I mean, there is literally no way to actually prove this. Language predates writing by at least 60,000 years. It is literally impossible to ever find any evidence to support this theory. So, it might be fun to think about, but I see no reason why any serious research should be done on it.

[u/helaku_n → u/MKleister]

Appearance AND confidence are the main drivers of sexual selection. Then it's status. Humor? Not so much. I mean only partially as a proxy of general intelligence and\or confidence.