In human history, the pursuit of more food, possessions, information, and status provided a survival advantage due to living in environments of scarcity. This evolutionary mindset is now mismatched with the current world of abundance, leading to overindulgence in these resources. The shift from scarcity to abundance has created a disconnect, resulting in excessive behaviors and struggles with managing the surplus.
Slot machines, social media, and potato chips: we humans seem to find a lot of things hard to consume in moderation. Why does "enough" seem so much harder to say than "more?" Listen as Michael Easter discusses these questions and his book, The Scarcity Brain, with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Easter shares ways that our awareness of how our brain works can help us reclaim balance--in our diets, our money, our emotions, and how we spend our time.