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A very interesting article was published in Phys.org about how modern life might be outpacing our mind, which evolved to deal with a simpler world:
The human brain evolved for a world of familiar faces, immediate threats and small social groups. But the world around us is changing far faster than human biology can keep pace. That mismatch may help explain some of the stress, loneliness and constant comparison people experience today.
The review, co-authored by Dr. Jose Yong, senior lecturer at James Cook University, Singapore, and Dr. Sarah Chan, research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at SUTD, is published in Behavioral Sciences.
Evolutionary mismatch describes what happens when human instincts shaped in one kind of environment are forced to operate in a very different one. Humans evolved in smaller, close-knit groups, where danger, belonging, status and trust were read through familiar people and everyday face-to-face signals. [...]
Social media makes this mismatch especially visible. The urge to understand our place within a group may once have helped people maintain trust and cooperation among familiar faces. Today, that same instinct can be triggered by an endless stream of curated lives, achievements and status signals.
At the center of the paper is competition. Modern environments can intensify the feeling that others are judging, outperforming or leaving us behind. [...]
"Competition is not new, but modern life can make it feel constant," said Yong. "An evolutionary perspective may help explain why people respond so strongly to comparison and the fear of falling behind, even when those signals come from strangers or screens rather than a small social group."
The paper draws on existing research and theory rather than new data. It presents evolutionary mismatch as one way of understanding modern social and psychological problems, alongside psychological, social and economic explanations. These ideas will need to be tested through real-world research.
That matters because the response to modern stress cannot rest only on telling individuals to be more resilient. If environments are activating old instincts in new and unhelpful ways, then cities, workplaces, digital platforms and communities also need to be part of the solution. [...]
"Stress, loneliness and anxiety are often treated as personal or lifestyle problems," said Chan. "But they may also reflect a mismatch between the environments people live in and the conditions our minds and bodies evolved to navigate. That means we should think not only about individual resilience, but also about how cities and communities are designed."
None of this is an argument for returning to a simpler past or a suggestion that modern life is inherently broken. It is a case for designing the present more thoughtfully. Understanding where modern life conflicts with the conditions human beings evolved to navigate could help researchers, designers and policymakers create cities and communities that feel less alienating and more supportive of everyday well-being.
More information
Jose C. Yong et al, Evolutionary Mismatch, Stress, and Competition: Making Sense of Psychosocial Problems in the Polycrisis Era, Behavioral Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.3390/bs16050650
(Score: 4, Touché) by looorg on Monday July 06, @05:39PM (1 child)
It was more that ancient brain was used for burst of speed and then slow paces. But now it seems to be go-go-faster all the time, or a lot more. That said I do think that we are keeping up in that regard. But at the same time I find that more and more people want to, and do, disconnect from the go-go-always-updated-and-connected life. As they eventually realize that FOMO-life is bullshit and they are not really missing out on anything and all these "friends" they have online are not really friends in that regard. The constant updates are not really updating you cause nothing that important is really happening or it's happening someplace far far away and it doesn't concern you. You are being manipulated by (social-) media.
You still have small groups of friends and people you engage with. Social media wants to sell a fantasy that you have lots of friends or know a lot of people. But they don't matter. So even with your millions of online faces and friends you are still lonely. Cause they are not real in the small group sense. Just like the cat that watches a cat on a screen fairly quickly lose interest, cause the thing on the screen is fake and no fun.
Threat-wise I still prefer the modern world to ancient times, much less risk of (violent) death even tho we are led to believe otherwise.
But they are all fake, and bullshit. They don't matter. But the evil twats over at Facebook et al hired people to fuck with your brain. Making you believe that these things matter. When they really don't. You did not become happier or more engaged or whatnot. Instead you became a doom-scroll-zombie.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 07, @10:05AM
That is a big reason I have not registered with social media. Linked-in, no way! I already know too many people who registered there. God help whoever took one in! Just as deceitful as dating sites. It's full of wolves and sheep. The sheep come looking for a mark or a home, and the wolves are out for Expendables. There is nothing there for me. I might as well walk the tenderloin district dressed in a suit and tie.