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WHY do we buy what we buy? And why do we buy so much of it? These questions are at the heart of 鈥荣 Spent. Don鈥檛 expect the usual po-faced anti-consumerist diatribe: this book is intelligent, engaging, exasperating and funny.

On advertising, Miller says: 鈥淢arketers understand that they are selling the sizzle, not the steak鈥�. He then berates the entire profession for its naive belief that consumers simply want to show off their wealth, status and taste. Academics get it in the neck, too: he rebrands their philosophies on consumerist capitalism as the 鈥渨rong conservative model鈥� and the 鈥渨rong radical model鈥� before giving his own 鈥渟ensible model鈥�.

Miller鈥檚 thinking is grounded in human biology and evolutionary theory, yet he moves beyond the simplistic notion that conspicuous consumption is the human equivalent of the peacock鈥檚 tail 鈥� a costly indicator of biological fitness. Consumers want to display more subtle traits such as kindness, intelligence, creativity and personality, he says. We buy pets to show conscientiousness and modern art to display openness. But he also argues that consumerism is an ineffective form of self-advertisement.

Miller likes to tease. He plays with the idea of 鈥渢rait tattoos鈥� 鈥� existential barcodes consisting of one鈥檚 IQ score followed by a five-digit code encapsulating personality. Displayed on the forehead, these lay bare the qualities that we expend so much time, energy and money trying to advertise through consumerism. As a window into our psychology, it is one of the most revealing devices I have come across.

Armed with the secrets of consumerism, Miller could make a mint in marketing. Instead, he is selling his insights to all at 拢20 a go. It may not make him rich, but if readers embrace his alternatives to retail it could spark a revolution.

Home archaeologist exercise

What will your possessions say about you? For a new perspective on your possessions, try out this exercise from Spent 鈥� it might make you rethink your reasons for what you buy and what you keep.

Walk around your home for an hour. Note ten of your physical possessions that could last long enough, in some form, to be discovered in five thousand years by a future archaeologist.

For each product, list the practical and signalling functions that the archaeologist might attribute to the possession.

Compare those inferred functions with your conscious reasons for buying the possession.

Reprinted by arrangement with Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., from Spent: Sex, evolution, and the secrets of consumerism.

Copyright 漏 Geoffrey Miller, 2009.