Social media and our primate brains

Posted on January 18, 2022 by 40 Mile Commentator

We’re sure you’ve heard the phrase, or still remember the time of, “The good old days.”

You know what we mean; the time before social media, before the instant content sharing, the Facebooker’s, Instagrammer’s and Tik Tok stars. Back in the time where it was just a newspaper, some text printed on paper, and a wood-burning stove.

Nowadays, you open up your phone and you have most of the knowledge of mankind up until that very point at your fingertips. Do you want to learn a new language? Done. Henry the Eighth? Done. There is such an immense amount of content to consume that we’re sure nobody could learn it in their lifetime even if they tried. However, along with the content, there are also the creators.

These are the people that make their funny Tik Tok’s, post food reviews on Facebook, or a picture of how they’re living their newly lavish lifestyle on Instagram. Some of you may just scroll through, look at your memes and be happy for the day. Others, though, may feel a sense of desire for those lifestyles, or maybe a sense of loathing they themselves aren’t living it.

As humans, our brains are thousands of years old, and with being under no pressure to change, we haven’t evolved for just as long. This creates the situation where we’re living in a modern society, but still have instincts that date back centuries. We think that in some sense — social media preys on this side of us.

In the animal kingdom, it’s usually only the top dog that gets to mate. The most desirable, most colourful, strongest and most intimidating. When you aren’t that top-dog, you want to compete for that space.

The stigma around mental health has drastically changed in the past years, however, we think the reason so many of the younger population suffer from negative or declining mental health could be because of social media.

There are thousands of verifiable ‘top-dog’ content-creators on the Internet, while there are millions of consumers looking through a one-way mirror at what they see as a perfect specimen.

We’re here to tell you that even though you may not think you’re living the perfect life you’ve always wanted, buying that nice car, living in a large house or spending that little extra on wine. We think that you’re still in the place that you should be. Be happy about where you are, what you’ve accomplished, and the things that you’re working on. One day, all your dreams will be sure to come true.