Kindly help me understand following sentences. Thanks

Question

" We're not above the rude little prods and jests of natural and sexual selection. "

Clive · Accepted Answer

Please provide some context,
ie what comes before and after this sentence?

Adnan Haider · Answer

Hey Clive!

Here it is ,
"It makes sense to be curious about the evolutionary roots of human behavior. It's reasonable to try to understand our impulses and actions by applying Darwinian logic to the problem. We're animals. We're not above the rude little prods and jests of natural and sexual selection. But evolutionary psychology as it has been disseminated across mainstream consciousness is a cranky and despotic Cyclops, its single eye glaring through an overwhelmingly masculinist lens."

Clive · Answer

Here's the basic idea.

Animals are influenced by the natural and sexual selection that is part of the theory of evolution,.
We are animals, so we too are influenced in this way. (to 'be above something' here means to be exempt from it.)

The writer humorously personifies evolution as an entity
that gives us rude little prods and jests ( ie gives us vulgar little pushes and urges, and makes us part of its little jokes).

In short, evolution is spoken of as an entity that has fun making us do things.

I assume you have some understanding of the theory of evolution. If not, you need to study this a bit.

Clive

Kindly help me understand following sentences. Thanks

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