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Evolutionary biologists widely agree that many vestiges of prehistoric human emotions, instincts, drives, and desires - on which our survival once depended - persist beyond their usefulness in the modern world. Similar to the evolution of the human brain, genetically inherited predispositions require many millions of years to adapt and mutate.

Evolution is a slow, continuous, and inaccurate process. This means that at any particular point in time, our instincts - the same biological predispositions that enabled our genetic pool to survive - are out of sync with those needed to successfully surmount modern challenges. This is the very reason adaptation and mutation occurs:When what we have is not optimal for our environment, we change.

Let me give just one example of example of how the slow evolution of instincts inhibits proress and plays a role in the collapse of advanced societies.

Over the past five million years, we have learned to respond to immediate theats extremely well. As soon as we detect danger, our adrenaline kicks in: Our bodies are flooded with stimulatns and we spur into action. Biologists and psychologists call this powerful response "fight" or "flight" because the human physiology instantly prepares to attack or run.  

This response is so strong that in extreme cases of fight or flight, humans have been known to single-handedly life a 3,500 pound car. Journalist Josh Clark describes this astonishing reaction to an immediate threat. "In 1982, in Lawrenceville, Ga, Angela Cavallo lifted a 1964 Chevrolet Impala from her son, Tony, after it fell off the jacks that had held it up while he worked underneath the car."

The reason we respond effectively to immediate danger is due to the part of the brain called the hypothalamus. When the hypothalamus detects a threat, it sends chemical messages to the adrenal glands that activate hormones designed to create an exicted, ready state. So no matter what kind of emergency we encounter, our bodies are programmed to take quick action.

In truth, the faster and more clever our ancestors' reaction to an imminent danger was, the more likely they were to survive. So i follows that we are all descendents of ancestors who ran, hid, sucessfully fought off, and detected threats better than others. Travis Gibbs, the author of Renewal, puts this another way "Genetics simply reebered for us and passed along what had worked."  Quick reactions worked, so this instinct perfected itself over time.

Consequently, today we are more effective at responding to immediate problms than we are at reacting to vague, distant problems.