Wright wrote The Evolution of Despair for Time Magazine back in 1995, and I think it still presents a reasonable discussion of some of the concepts of mismatch theory (for a more technical discussion see the Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology).
In his essay, Wright primarily focuses on the psychological consequences of the emotional isolation inherent in modern living. Humans are pack animals who were built to live in extended kin groups, and such emotions as affection, gratitude, love, and trust provide evidence of our basic communal nature. As Robert Putnam has pointed out in Bowling Alone, the recent weakening of communal ties in the United States has resulted in a reduction in trust in our fellow citizens (declining social capital), without which societies don’t function very well.
One of the problems with our way of life is that the logic of capitalism works to convince people that they should always want more. This is in natural opposition to the logic of community, which requires that people think in terms of sharing and cooperation. For example, on television viewers watch a fantasy world of the beautiful, rich, and famous; and as a result become dissatisfied with their own much less glamorous lives and relationships.
Wright points out that living in a clan certainly has its tradeoffs, since everyone knows your business. But in such a community child abuse is also much more difficult to hide. In the end, the result of our loss of community is likely playing out in the increasing rates of depression and anxiety we see all around us every day.
Tags: Anxiety, Depression, Discordance Hypothesis, Happiness, Mental Health, Mismatch Theory, Social Capital
[...] of others to help achieve your goals, and listen to good advice from trustworthy friends. (The Evolution of Despair by Robert Wright – Lost Wanderer, The Importance of Belonging and Community – Lost Wanderer, and The Uplift Program for [...]