Evolution Is Not Our Friend. A Diagnosis

Evolutionary Traps We Need To Understand If We Want to Thrive

Humanitiy’s journey, adaptation ongoing. AI image from Freepik.

One may easily be shocked about the state of the world:
The polarisation of society, the rise of right-wing populism, authoritarian parties, and strong-man leaders, addiction to social media, xenophobia, misinformation, and how apathetic and distracted most people are. 
Here’s a fresh take on it.

(If you have Medium membership you can also read this article here.)

Evolution is not on our side.

Evolution doesn’t mean that we are perfectly adapted or have evolved for the better. Instead, it has optimized us for what worked best for a long time.
It does not imply in any way, that what worked well 100.000 years ago is still a great solution now.

And let’s not pretend it’s over, the most important steps may be right in front of us.
It is only reasonable to assume, that when our environment changes significantly, we as humans have to adapt as well and this is precisely what is happening now.

Saying that something should be as it is, because we evolved in that way is a fallacy in two ways.
It’s the natural fallacy of deriving what ought to be from what is (they are two different categories) in the classical philosophical sense.
But it is also a practical fallacy of not recognizing that the purpose of nature is to keep adapting by overcoming its self-imposed shortcomings.

We can easily see how our primal desires drive us to make questionable assumptions and decisions, eat sweets, seek instant gratification, keep unhealthy habits, believe in populists or opportunists, or be suspicious of strangers/foreigners.
They have been serving us in the past, but now they are often hindering us, individually and collectively.

Yet, many keep justifying their primal drives, like their desire for pleasure or comfort, as if they were anything to be proud of. Don’t get me wrong, they are not “good” or “bad” as such, they just are.
But any life determined by these forces cannot be called free and at a certain stage of our evolution, we need to reflect and integrate those evolutionary drives to avoid being governed by arbitrary forces distracting us from what actually matters.
Even worse, collectively these may be the main reasons, why we are so incapable of making peace amongst each other and directing our collective efforts towards a more humane and just future.

Let’s look at some prime examples of how evolution has tied us some fine snares:

On an individual level…

(1) Evolution gave us a preference for sweets or the preference of fatty foods.
Jamming chocolate and fast food into our system may have seemed a good idea as long as there could be a shortage of food at any time. But today with an overabundance of highly-saturating food, this urge and the associated behavior has become maladaptive.

Let’s look at social media next.
(2) Evolution has led us to look for short-term gratification through dopamine boosts we receive for any engagement, likes, comments, and controversy. 
Our brains are programmed craving these easy-to-get stimuli and “real life” can barely offer us the same levels of engagement and gratification without effort. 
Social media platforms are highly optimized to capture our attention, create engagement, and keep us scrolling for as long as possible. Again, the worse we feel, the easier we fall into this trap. Therefore, social media has become highly addictive, especially for those lacking the courage, motivation, or will-power to go out to create the same engagement in the real world.

Photo by Eugene Zhyvchik on Unsplash

On a collective level…

(3) We have developed the tendency to maintain strong in-group out-group dynamics.
Throughout human history, there was a long time when we lived in small groups or tribes and in-group thinking was beneficial because it led to strong group cohesion which led to stronger bonds and better chances of survival. 
So, while tribal dynamics where natural at one point, today they are killing our societies and our political systems.
Group cohesion is best and easiest maintained if there is a strong concept of an “other”. This fortifies the groups’ identity and self-understanding and enables them to project fears and desires onto this “other” be it immigrants, poor people, other religions, races, or simply a rival football team, you name it. Research shows that a group feels more intimately connected when they have a common enemy to unite against.
Any problem is easier to bear if there’s a scapegoat to blame it on. This has led to polarization and xenophobia rising to levels that seemed unthinkable to many just 15 years ago.

(4) We are also primed to listen to the most “dominant” party in a discussion. Often we trust “strong” and confident leaders because they are able to elicit a feeling of security and certainty in insecure and uncertain times.
This means that instead of listening to the calm, critical, and empathetic voice of reason speaking with care and humility whoever is perceived as more confident and strong will not only overpower the other people at the table, but will also intuitively receive more trust from many people (surely not all, but many).
This has led many to follow populists, opportunists, fascists, and racists dominating many debates through their way of controlling the discourse and dictating the topics as well as the climate of discussion.

And here are a few more miscellaneous examples:

• Social Comparison and Status Anxiety:
  High social status improved mating prospects and access to ressources, but in a world of social media and global visibility, constant comparison leads to low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression.

• Attention to Negative Information (Negativity Bias):
  Being hyper-aware of threats increased survival chances. Now it contributes to anxiety, pessimism, and an overemphasis on bad news, impacting mental health and societal discourse.

• Desire for Social Approval and Conformity:
  Acceptance in a group was crucial at one point in time. Yet, now it leads to peer pressure, herd mentality, and susceptibility to groupthink, e.g. impacting decision-making and leading to inauthentic behavior.

So, Evolution is not always right in the sense that what worked at one time is not necessarily the best solution at a later stage of development.
Instead, those who adapt in the right way and fast enough when conditions change, are those who are able to make it.

Unfortunately, we live in a complex interconnected world and it does not seem, as if those who want to make bad, short-sighted decisions would be the only ones that die out, if shit goes south. Rather, it looks that if we are doomed as humanity, we are doomed altogether as the effects and mistakes of a particular group or nation effect everyone else as well. Think about nuclear war, global warming, financial crisis, or migration. 
The world is so interconnected that we are “all in one boat”. 
So, natural selection works on a collective, not an individual level now. 
Either we grow up as a species or we fail the test.

So, for example to combat tribalism, misinformation and apathy we need to talk about the primal needs we humans have and how to fulfil them meaninfully. 
But instead of having used the insights from psychology and cognitive science to liberate our human potential and create a free society, the best experts and scientists get the option to develop the next best social media strategy or product that will be even more efficient at exploiting our primal patterns.

Similarly as the human, the seed only sprouts if it feels the conditions are good. Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash.

What’s the Cure? Some Small Ideas for Big Issues

I’ll only talk about some things to do on an individual level, I’ll explore the political and collective dimension in more depth soon.

Most importantly, don’t dispair, you’re not alone in this. 
If you feel overwhelmed with the world as we all do at times, maybe start with small acts of kindness and disconnect yourself from the media for a bit.
Don’t listen the noise and focus on the things that do matter and engage the issue you can do something about.
Spend some quality time with your loved ones, go out and have some fun, go for a long walk in nature, and create something meaningful.

Get off the dopamine rush, reduce your constant stimulation and gratification, meditate, write, exercise, create.
Switch from a consumer mode into a creator mode. Change your gratification from external to internal motivation.
Read a book instead of watching the news.
Deliberately turn off your phone in the evening or leave it off at the beginning of the day. 
Take a walk instead of opening social media.
Talk to a friend or exercise if you get anxious or feel overwhelmed.
Most primal needs can be met in multiple ways and maladaption only sets in when we are not having our needs met or opt for the easiest possible solution.

Build community and meaning around you, fill you life with purpose and be aware of all the traps evolution has laid out for you.
Again: Evolution is not our friend and it is not finished.
Collectively and individually need become aware of our programming and use to our advantage, instead of being enslaved to it.

---

I’ll explore ways how to practically do this and the cognitive science of how we construct our reality in my next articles.

Some of my earlier articles: 
Know-Thyself! Socrates as a Spiritual Teacher
Psycho-Technologies: A Way to Approach Our Modern Predicament
2 Simple Ways to Greatly Improve Your Sleep
The Essence of Spirituality: About Transformation and Finding Your True Self