Tom Richey | Why are humans so anxious? (Sapiens, Chapter 1: An Animal of No Significance) @tomrichey | Uploaded February 2020 | Updated October 2024, 13 hours ago.
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This vlog contains my reflections on the first chapter of Sapiens, titled, "An Animal of No Significance."

One of the greatest paradoxes of human existence is that although we have reached the top of the food chain as a species, we still experience massive levels of anxiety. I've recently started reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, which provides a compelling answer to this seeming paradox. In the grand scheme of things, a species that has known dominance for less than 100,000 years hasn't really had that much time to adjust in a universe that is 13.5 billion years old. The lion, for example, has had millions of years to get used to its dominance. Humans, on the other hand, have not-so-distant memories of having to fear lions and other predators. Why do we experience anxiety? It's built into our DNA - the DNA of a species that still remembers what it's like to live in a dangerous world.