Psychiatry Myths & Mental HealthHow Evolution Messes Up Your Decisions!
🧠 Your Brain Was Built to Dodge Tigers—Not Pick Between 47 Brands of Olive Oil 🧠
I hate to say it, but evolution is kinda the asshole here. Back in the day, our ancestors weren’t paralyzed by choices — it was fight, flight, or get eaten by something with saber teeth. 🐅 That’s it. No oat milk, no job applications, no 93 notifications begging for your attention.
But today? Your prehistoric brain is stuck in 2025 trying to choose between 10 career paths, 5 relationship options, and 20 types of cereal. And guess what? That binary fight-or-flight system is failing you miserably.
A 2017 study in Nature Reviews Neuroscience found that your prefrontal cortex — the part of your brain responsible for complex decision-making — gets fried when the options stack too high. That overload triggers stress and leads to, you guessed it: garbage choices.
You’re not lazy. You’re neurologically maxed out.
That’s why you freeze in grocery aisles. That’s why you panic-scroll through Netflix for 45 minutes and still end up watching The Office again. Your brain just wasn’t built for modern life’s endless options.
So next time you’re overwhelmed by “which direction to take in life,” remember: your brain is still running on caveman software.
