How primitive instincts work in modern life Bashny.Net

Some instinctive scenario we do not need, but they continue to deystvovat



Imagine that prehistoric hunter one day found himself in our time. Most likely, he would have a hard time: we are so far removed from his "cave" state, for example, that the Neanderthal man in modern society, and not a man would have considered.

Jason Lieberman, a biologist at Harvard University, in his lecture, held November 6 at the American Museum of Natural History, has addressed the issue of the influence of primitive instincts in the life of modern man. According to Lieberman, the people still run by desires and habits, which appeared at the dawn of our species, but in today's world, they are not as effective, and sometimes may even cause harm.

1. Stairs or an escalator? Modern people are often faced with a choice between stairs and escalators every time thus there is an internal dialogue leading arguments in favor of both. Advantages of the escalator clear: the rise or descend on it requires much less effort than with a ladder, but frequent walking up the stairs perfectly trains leg muscles.

American scientists have found that only 3% of people in such cases prefer stairs escalator, and it may indicate not only the banal laziness (although this factor is certainly relevant). Most people subconsciously choose the escalator because our distant ancestors primitive sought to use every chance to rejuvenate spent on hunting and gathering, and modern humans when making the selection follow the same instinct.

«Thus, if the Neanderthals were escalators, they certainly would have used them»

blockquote> 2. Sedentary lifestyle or physical activity? The man perfectly suited for long walks and physical education: our primitive forerunners had to overcome every day about 9 km, to get food, while, for example, chimpanzees are moving in search of food for about 2-3 km.

«We were created to walk, run, carry, dig and throw - in general, physical activity, that is for hunters and gatherers had a literally vital»

blockquote> Gradually, the situation has changed, and now to "get" the meat, a person can sit all day in the office, even at the expense of physical and mental health, so people almost lost their primal craving for physical activity. Even when some middle manager, tired of the constant sitting at the computer and wanting to lose weight, triples himself jogging instincts had nothing to do with it - it is a conscious intention to get rid of unwanted calories.

3. Barefoot or in shoes? For thousands of years people were barefoot, and their feet from cuts advocated only thick corn that appeared after walking on sharp rocks and thorny branches. When someone from the primitive geniuses finally figured wrapping legs skin animals, corn became unnecessary for innovation but had to pay such a widespread and familiar phenomenon for us as flat feet.

Shoes (especially uncomfortable) can cause more serious problems, such as diseases of the joints and blood vessels. Experts have studied the remains of the inhabitants of the Paleolithic, and it turned out that these complications are irrelevant: walking barefoot is the effective prevention of flat feet and other diseases affecting our lower limbs.

4. Read or not read? Everyone knows that prolonged reading or the time spent at the computer, an adverse effect on visual acuity: eye muscles lose tone and weaken, leading to a distorted perception of distant objects. Our cave ancestors more often we trained eyes, looking at natural scenery, so our eyes are not designed for long-term perception of objects located at a short distance.

Probably, the invention points people have decided that taking care of your vision lost its meaning, but if you still want to keep your eyes healthy, is more likely to look not only at the monitor or a book.

5. Sweets and a healthy diet? The diet resident Palaeolithic, some estimates of 1, 5 to 8 kg of sugar a year. Modern American eats about 45 kg of sugar a year - a growth of sugar consumption is associated primarily with its availability.

If hunter-gatherers had a chance to taste the sweets or cakes, they probably would have behaved like naughty children eating sweets in large quantities.

Sweet food has always been and remains attractive for people because sugar - nothing else like carbohydrates, which provide energy. But if in the Paleolithic people were forced to live a more or less healthy life, in our time the shelves literally littered with tasty and sweet, but very high-calorie product that contributes to the development of diabetes in people, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

"We have no evolutionary predisposition to a healthy diet, but, nevertheless, every parent teaches a child that there are many sweet bad" - ironically Lieberman. According to him, mankind learned to act more sensibly and rationally, based not only on instinct, but they still play a fairly important role in the behavior.

via factroom.ru