(no subject)

you know a while ago i saw a post on tumblr about some guy who wrote a paper about human psychology being designed with fear responses that are no longer evolutionarily necessary and like

ppl were rightfully criticizing him for coming off as a douchebag who was saying “there’s nothing in modern life for people to be afraid of” which would not surprise me

but also... there is a version of that idea which is valid? like. my brain definitely has fear responses that are unnecessary and counterproductive. my brain is designed to avoid things that make it feel scared or stressed. originally that very helpfully meant “don’t eat that poisonous plant” or “don’t go in that cave where bears are”. In my actual life it usually translates to “don’t do your homework ever even if it makes you fail the class” which is much, much less helpful

because my brain was not designed for tests or homework or bills or taxes or jobs or any of this modern nonsense it was designed to not get eaten and it seems to be having trouble with the rest of the stuff