Introduction

Have you ever thought about why lovemaking tends to be pleasurable? The commonsensical (and Darwinian) answer to this question is rather cynical: the pleasure may be ours, but it is the genes that use it as a carrot to lure their vehicles (i.e., us) toward each other with the goal of replicating and perpetuating themselves. Granted, we have invented plenty of ways to use the genes’ cunning trick to our own benefi t and enjoyment well above and beyond its initial purpose, but that does not negate the evolutionary logic behind it: a species whose mating happens to be boring and tiresome would die off quick as a wink.