It's also nice to finally see a theory that can explain why I like almonds. Thanks.

I'm an unapologetic fan of evolutionary psychology. We've had millions of generations of surviving in small bands in the wild, and a few hundred surviving in agricultural communities, and a few in living in an industrial world. The brain is an organ, and it would be strange to think that alone among organs, it has not been shaped in a response to the demands of nature.

To a group of humans in the wilderness with no technology, there is nothing more critical to long term survival than the tribe's child bearing women. A tribe can lose a male or two and not really lose any numbers from the next generation, every woman lost means living or potential children lost as well. So it is not at all surprising if male brains diverged, to become more adapted to dealing with external danger, while the female brain adapted to be responsive to keeping the tribe together and managing its social issues- internal threats.

My personal, unproven and likely unprovable theory, based on nothing but my own observations and hunches, is that our style of shopping derives from our roles in a hunting tribe. For a man to return empty handed is a failure- that's hunting, you either find an animal and kill it, or you do not and you go hungry. Women, by contrast, gathered food closer to the camp, as they had the burden of children. Gathering plants is a picky, choosy business, and you have the luxury to reject, while a hunter rarely does.

I can imagine some day in our distant past when a forefather of ours spent a day tracking and killing an antelope on the plains of Africa, and finally brought the carcass back with a feeling of pride and victory-only to hear our foremother complain "You couldn't find a white one?"

Almonds, by the way, are a different story. The "natural" almond is toxic. Its conversion into a non-toxic, domesticated edible crop is a bit of a mystery, although Jared Diamond has an interesting idea.

All of this may be true, but don't let it be a reason for giving up. There are lots of successful marriages out there in which the husband and wife figure out how the other thinks and are able to translate the "wiring" of their spouse. It really is possible, even if it's a challenge at times.