Experiment

[Tempus35]

So I have no clue where to post this but, here it is:

As a forward, This is not meant to depress anyone, or anything, it is a thought experiment on my part.

So I have been thinking, what if nature is experimenting with humans, that is mental evolution. I think this because as humans, we aren't use to being bombarded with so much input by so many sources, and we aren't made to be in such big social groups, that is the city sizes we are apart of etc. I was thinking then what if mental evolution has started to rise in accordance with the above. And that people like me, and others, that have mental issues, are a result of this experimenting, it might be failed experiments, but experiments none the less. These ideas come from reading articles on the rise of mental issues, and articles one mental functioning and genes that are changing. I don't have links to these, since most were in magazines, but I am sure you can search for them online.

 

[Anomaly]

These are very hypothetical grounds. I think a fairly straightforward explanation with evolution in mind is that anxiety is a trait that was far more useful to ancient humans and their ancestors. We do enjoy a higher standard of living and thus, maladaptive genes may be passed more often. If I understand you correctly, are you proposing that things like anxiety are recent arrivals? I haven't seen articles or studies proposing that, maybe you could post some of the resources you looked at?

Problems in large cities and other modern features of society would be explained fairly well by the maladaptive trait proposal.

 

[Tempus35]

No I am saying that the rise in incidents of things like anxiety and depression might be due to evolution, and failed pathways for that evolution. And that over all the incidents of anxiety, depression, and everything else, is evolution of the mind in the first, place, that it is just speeding up.

 

[Anomaly]

No I am saying that the rise in incidents of things like anxiety and depression might be due to evolution, and failed pathways for that evolution. And that over all the incidents of anxiety, depression, and everything else, is evolution of the mind in the first, place, that it is just speeding up.

Well, failed pathways for evolution would be more or less maladaptation, which is what I mentioned. Do you say that evolution of the mind is speeding up because we are getting more instances of mental illness?

 

[Tempus35]

Well, failed pathways for evolution would be more or less maladaptation, which is what I mentioned. Do you say that evolution of the mind is speeding up because we are getting more instances of mental illness?

Part the rise in mental illness, but also just because of the condition in which we are put into in society anymore and the need for a brain that can handle more data

 

[Anomaly]

Part the rise in mental illness, but also just because of the condition in which we are put into in society anymore and the need for a brain that can handle more data

Well, think about what evolution does. Evolution pushes for favorable traits, why would mental illness be favorable? Also, I think it's hard to say that something is definitively on the rise as it may be the case that the reporting system improved or people are willing to be more open about it, etc.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with the need for a brain to handle more data -- is storage shortage for brains a regular occurrence?

 

[Tempus35]

Well, think about what evolution does. Evolution pushes for favorable traits, why would mental illness be favorable? Also, I think it's hard to say that something is definitively on the rise as it may be the case that the reporting system improved or people are willing to be more open about it, etc.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with the need for a brain to handle more data -- is storage shortage for brains a regular occurrence?

I am not saying the evolution is trying to make mental illness more, I am saying it is a by product of the evolution, that the evolution itself is speeding up, so there is more cases of mental illness as a byproduct of the "tweaking" evolution is doing.

As for the need to handle more "data", we are bombarded by sensory information to a degree we never have before, from almost instant communication to anyone, to video and audio everywhere, to societies that are huge in numbers in small areas.