Evolutionary MISMATCH is everywhere – work, academia, retirement

Evolutionary psychologist, Doug Lisle, PhD discusses listener questions with host, Nathan Gershfeld.  In today’s show, we discuss the following listener questions about evolutionary mismatch at work, academia, and retirement.

 

1. I was on straight energy conservation mode for years at work. Putting in minimum effort and getting poor performance reviews. I hated it but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to get my motivation on board. Then I listened to you for years and over time bits of the pieces of the puzzle started coming together. Ultimately, I realized what I really wanted was the feeling of being productively occupied. To feel productively occupied though my brain needed to feel that it was generating real value in the world and get feedback that the value generated was indeed “real”. That is all to say I could never put a finger on the impact of my efforts in my corporate job. Does this mean the corporate world just isn’t for me? Or do I just need to zero in on what I directly impact in my current position and focus on that? Have you ever heard of people getting their mind/ motivation on board after 8 years of something?

2. I am a Master’s student in Psychology based in Germany, and I am planning to write my thesis on the topic of evolutionary mismatch in the workplace. My aim is to measure this mismatch using a questionnaire and then correlate it with hypothesized outcomes such as job satisfaction and mental health. I believe there may be connections between mismatch and phenomena such as burnout, as well as job satisfaction. This could potentially explain why some individuals prefer to work in small startups despite the objective drawbacks. However, I am encountering resistance from my professors, as they argue that the concept of “mismatch” is subjective and cannot be empirically measured, given that we cannot accurately determine the working conditions during the hunter-gatherer era. As such, they suggest that my thesis could be dismissed as a “just-so” story. I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to address this issue in my thesis.

3. Can you discuss the lack of goals once one is an empty nester? I am 61 and have many hobbies, i have volunteered so much I am having trouble finding anything that I can get excited about. I was a SAH mom and no grandchildren yet but not really interested in the grandchildren daycare duties if and when they present themselves. Post pandemic everything has slowed way down and it feels like reinventing the wheel for the hundredth time. My husband is still working for about 1 more year but we don’t have many common interests. I am coming off of 7 years of being the power of attorney and executor for my aunt who had dementia and passed then subsequently handling the estate with many beneficiaries who are not interested in any kind of support or help so thank goodness I am almost finished with those nearly full time complicated estate duties which utilized my skills well but was very stressful. Now I am just tired of all the working for free but advancing to nowhere. I am very self motivated but wow, the future looks very mundane. Can you suggest some action steps to get going again?

Teasers [0:00]

Intro  [0:42]

Question #1 [1:51]

Answer #1: [3:08]

Question #2: [37:20]

Answer #2: [38:30]

Question #3  [48:55]

Answer #3:  [50:10]

Wrapping up: [1:03:54]

Outro:  [1:05:13]

 

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Web: http://www.beatyourgenes.org

Doug Lisle, PhD http://www.esteemdynamics.com

Nathan Gershfeld, DC http://www.fastingescape.com

Intro & outro song: City of Happy Ones • Ferenc Hegedus Licensed for use

 

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340: The TRUTH about Social Anxiety – are extroverts really the outliers?

Evolutionary psychologist, Doug Lisle, PhD discusses listener questions with host, Nathan Gershfeld.  In today’s show, we discuss  different questions on social anxiety and finish with a short question about dating.

1. Is there a social strategy that involves not competing in an effort not to be seen as a threat? I am a woman and believe I notice in myself a tendency to make myself small around other women. I do this in interactions with women who are both more and less attractive than I am. I have lately come to believe the result is often that they dismiss me as not interesting or relevant, although my goal is to make friends. When I force myself to behave more assertively, I have better long term social result, but it is hard to sustain in ongoing interactions and it causes me rumination and social anxiety. Am I afraid of unleashing my competitive side with people who I want to like me?

2. If the point of everything we do is to find mates and reproduce, why do conditions such as social anxiety exist? I have crippling social anxiety which no therapist has ever been able to fix. I’m a 37 year old woman and I’ve never been on a date because I am just terrified of men. I’m not on the apps, and when I go out in public I avoid men at all costs. How did my ancestors ever find a mate and reproduce with this type of behavior? It just seems counterintuitive to the essence of humanity.

3. Is there anything to be done about emotional instability? I’ve always felt like a raw nerve trying to navigate through life. I oscillate between very high and very low emotions constantly and when something goes wrong in life I feel it so deeply I become emotionally paralyzed. It makes having relationships hard, as well as trying to get through day to day life. I don’t want to go on medication but sometimes I feel like a chemical lobotomy would be a relief. Is there anything to be done? If not, can you explain the genetic reason why a person like this might be beneficial to the tribe so I can focus on a silver lining?

4. In personality, is there a difference between disagreeable and difficult? I know some people who are obviously disagreeable and I do the distance thing with them you suggest, and that works for me. But I also have a few people in my life, with OCD and chronic anxiety who can be kind and nice but unpredictable. Sometimes they are very difficult if they are going through an episode, and it doesn’t feel right to just walk away and create distance from the behavior. But usually I can’t actually help much either, and things get very muddy and difficult. Can you help me understand the difference, between a disagreeable person (narcissist) and a difficult person (OCD)? Thank you so much.

5. If love is feeling like you are getting a good deal, then what are some techniques to make women feel that way? What are the best ways to make a woman look up to you and seek your approval as a man? How do I communicate that I am better than her?

Intro [0:00]

Small talk  [1:35]

Question #1 [3:25]

Question #2  [21:18]

Question #3  [32:05]

Question #4 [48:15]

Question #5 [1:02:45]

Wrapping up [1:09:00]

 

Follow us:

YouTube: @beatyourgenes

X: @beatyourgenes

Insta: @Beatyourgenespodcast

Web: http://www.beatyourgenes.org

Doug Lisle, PhD http://www.esteemdynamics.com

Nathan Gershfeld, DC http://www.fastingescape.com

Intro & outro song: City of Happy Ones • Ferenc Hegedus Licensed for use

 

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339: Disagreeable people blame trauma for their circumstances.

Evolutionary psychologist, Doug Lisle, PhD discusses listener questions with host, Nathan Gershfeld. 

Question 1:

I had a very traumatic childhood, but I don’t blame my experiences with my violent alcoholic mother for any of my stupid adult decisions.  I did those all on my own — with some help from my parents’ genes, of course.  What Dr. Lisle teaches on this topic makes sense to me.  I have a friend who, by any measure, had a much less traumatic childhood.  In fact, I don’t think it is fair to say that her childhood was traumatic at all. There weren’t any drugs or alcohol in her childhood home, and, according to her, she didn’t experience any physical, verbal or sexual abuse. Her physical needs were all taken care of and, at the time, she says she felt very loved by both her parents.  She is no longer close to them.   Looking back over her life at the age of 60, she now believes that her emotional needs weren’t properly addressed when she was a child. Consequently, she has recently concluded that her problems stem from an attachment disorder caused by her parents. For the first time, she is calling what she experienced “trauma.”  She is convinced that her parents’ lack of attentiveness to her emotional needs qualifies as trauma and are at fault for much of her current depression and rage, as well as for her struggle with weight.    My friend is quite disagreeable, whereas I am quite agreeable.   Even among people who truly had a traumatic childhood, I have noticed a pattern:  Disagreeable people are more likely to want to blame someone for their shortcomings and for their life’s decisions, whereas agreeable people don’t tend to blame anyone.  In this way, it seems that agreeable people may be more readily able to grasp the lessons that Evolutionary Psychology has to offer — at least in the arena of this important topic of trauma and its role in our lives.  What do you think?

 

Follow us:

YouTube: @beatyourgenes

X: @beatyourgenes

Insta: @Beatyourgenespodcast

Web: http://www.beatyourgenes.org

Doug Lisle, PhD http://www.esteemdynamics.com

Nathan Gershfeld, DC http://www.fastingescape.com

Intro & outro song: City of Happy Ones • Ferenc Hegedus Licensed for use

 

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