Yong, Jose C., and Kanazawa, Satoshi (2025) Why Evolutionary Mismatches Are Ubiquitous While Evolutionary Matches Are Rare When Humans Use Technology. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 20 (1). pp. 88-102.

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Abstract

Evolutionary mismatch caused by environmental changes from the use of cultural and technological solutions is a well-established and extensively studied area. Despite the well-intended purpose of developing technologies to align the environment with and thus meet our adaptive needs, it is interesting that evolutionary matches—the natural conceptual counterpart to evolutionary mismatch—are seldom mentioned, whereas mismatches are discussed in abundance. We offer a definition of evolutionary match and propose several reasons why matches in the long run are unlikely given an extended period of technological consumption and reliance. Specifically, technologies embedded in culture lead to problems of an oversupply of solutions, as well as hyperstimulation and hypostimulation of evolved human adaptations, all of which drive the creation of more novel remedies to deal with these new problems in a never-ending cycle. Possible solutions to the inherent and inevitable problems of using culture and technology to satisfy our needs are proposed, in addition to discussing whether new technologies provide much evolutionary match at all as we move toward the future.

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