Roy Baumeister is a social psychologist, a professor at Florida State University, and the author of many books, including "Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength." During our conversation, Roy speaks at length on a variety of fascinating topics: how and why male homosexuality may have survived through evolution, differences in male and female sexuality, hunter-gatherer parenting styles, marriage and sex, how women have shaped men, the "tragedy of the male sex drive," whether free will exists, and how we might approach our nature with a degree of self-awareness and wisdom.
Roy is a brilliant writer, a prolific polymath, and someone who is admired and respected by many who have been on this show.
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(00:00) Intro
(02:31) How are there gay people?
(07:06) Ideal lifetime sex partners for men vs. women
(08:38) The tragedy of the male sex drive
(14:49) Lessons from "Too Many Women"
(19:41) Quotes from Roy about men and women
(23:45) Lesson from Helen Fisher
(27:51) The effect of human babies being born prematurely
(36:56) Sex, marriage, and "The Sex Diaries"
(41:47) Is the expectation of lifelong monogamy unwise?
(47:21) Quotes from Roy about willpower
(49:06) Does free will exist?
(1:00:21) How has evolutionary psychology effected Roy?