Evolutionary psychologists refer to this as a mismatch, meaning a lack of physical or mental preparation for modern times. The most familiar illustration is obesity: where as hunter-gatherers we were still slim and fit, these days more people worldwide are overweight than go hungry. We regularly feast on sugars and fats and salts, taking in far more calories than our bodies need. So why do we keep right on eating? Simple: our DNA thinks we’re still running around in the jungle. In prehistory it made good sense to stuff yourself anytime you stumbled on a heavily laden fruit tree. That didn’t
...more

