A frequently expressed concern today is that our evolved biology may not be well matched with our contemporary lives, thus resulting in poorer health and shorter lives than those of even our recent ancestors. This is referred to variously as a mismatch or discordance. Reflecting the “connections” theme of this book, we will propose that our modern lives are in some ways disconnected from our evolved biology, with occasional harmful consequences. There are some who argue that if we could only return to the ways of living of our ancestors (“Stone-Age lives”), we would all become healthier. Certainly there are aspects of ancestral ways of life that, if adopted, would probably result in improved health (e.g., exercise and dietary changes); but with more than 7 billion people living on earth, a “return” to lifestyles like those of our ancestors is highly unlikely (Fig. 16-1).
For most of human history, individuals were born and grew up in environments not very different from those of their parents and grandparents. They faced few challenges in their lives that required significant cultural or biological adaptations. With the origin of food production approximately 10,000 years ago, however, the pace of cultural change began to speed up. Of course biological evolution didn’t cease 10,000 years ago, but since that time there has been a veritable explosion of culture and technology, whereas biological change has been relatively slow (Pritchard, 2010). With so many changes occurring within single lifetimes, many people are stressed to their limits to adapt physically, emotionally, and materially. How far can our flexible and generalized biology take us in this rapidly changing world? These are some of the questions we will explore in this chapter as we consider ways in which culture interacts with biology throughout the life course and in our everyday lives as well as the ways in which this interaction sometimes provides challenges to our health and lifestyles.