It has seemingly long been the convention to distrust the lie-spinning of estate agents. But I’ve recently received a marketing leaflet that leads me to perhaps cut them some slack.

‘everything has to evolve’ , it claims, below a variation of that left to right silhouetted linear sequence; the ‘March of Progress’ from knuckle-dragger to God’s-imaged: you know the one. Only this time, the ‘pinnacle’ carries an estate agent’s ‘SOLD’ board. Brilliant, eh? How topical and on the ball of them to jump on this year’s Darwin bandwagon. How forgivable for getting it wrong.

Because this is still, perhaps, the predominant (preferred) view of human evolution; shoe-horned into idealised time-bound schemata; not just because it is easier to comprehend than the actual bushy mess; but because it accords with notions of direction, purpose, goal, inevitability – success! Sell your house, and you are a higher form of human; a cut above those who can’t and/or don’t aspire to be ‘more evolved’.

Social reflexive tosh! Might give them a call (for a free valuation – what else?).