The Jordan Harbinger Show

377: Randolph Nesse | Good Reasons for Bad Feelings

Jul 14, 2020

Randolph Nesse, the founding director of the Center for Evolution Medicine, explores the evolutionary roots of emotions in this insightful discussion. He explains how anxiety, depression, and anger serve critical survival purposes despite their negative aspects. Nesse dives into why worrying about social perceptions is evolutionarily beneficial and discusses the paradox of why women may choose reckless partners. He also addresses the implications of aging on health, revealing how some traits advantageous in youth can become detrimental later in life.

01:13:16

Episode guests

Randolph Nesse

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

5min

Understanding Anxiety: Evolution and Response

21min

Understanding Evolutionary Strategies and Human Behavior

2min

The Evolutionary Paradox of Aging and Health

21min

The Evolutionary Role of Emotions in Human Life

3min

Evolving Emotions and Health

16min

Exploring Evolutionary Insights on Emotions and Health

6min

Randolph Nesse (@randynesse) is the founding director of the Center for Evolution Medicine at Arizona State University and author of Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry.

What We Discuss with Randolph Nesse:

What possible purpose do anxiety, depression, and anger serve from an evolutionary standpoint?
Why the body's mechanisms for keeping us safe often overreact, and what we can do to get a handle on them when they work a little too well.
The evolutionary upsides to worrying about what other people think of us.
Why natural selection shapes our behavior toward reproduction rather than health and longevity.
Why do women often go for the reckless mate instead of the safe mate -- and why do men stick around at all?
And much more...

Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/377

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