The Story of the Human Body

Lieberman mentions that primitivists often use Henry David Thoreau’s Walden to support a return to pre-modern lifestyles, but Lieberman argues that rejecting modernity is oversimplified and ineffective. Humans are relatively successful; their population has drastically expanded, and despite humanitarian issues, many humans have plenty of resources and are healthy, and capitalism provides them with numerous opportunities and amenities. However, modernity has consequences, including the prevalence of infectious epidemics and noncommunicable diseases, and many people are subjected to the consequences of excess and convenience.

Human evolution is less noticeable because the process is slow and human lives are short. Little time has passed since humans first evolved, and cultural buffering has prevented adaptation. Cultural evolution surpasses natural selection and has biological impacts, as gene expression often depends on environmental conditions. Traits impacted by the environment are called “culturally heritable.”

Evolution is rarely considered in medical science, which makes humans less effective in mitigating diseases and sometimes intensifies diseases or causes subsequent conditions. For instance, prescribed antibiotics can trigger Crohn’s disease. Evolutionary medicine recognizes that some symptoms, like fevers and muscle pain, are adaptations and that human evolution prioritizes reproduction over health. It also recognizes the