If it’s not too late (and apologies if asked elsewhere)
Is there a (probably true) evolutionary story for why our brains “beat themselves up?”
If so, when or in what circumstances is this cluster of emotions/actions/moods useful (at least in some sense)?
Assuming this cluster is indeed generally counterproductive, is this mostly because we live in an environment very unlike the ancestral one, or more because the goals we’re talking about (like “write a good EA Forum post”) aren’t highly correlated with “maximize reproductive fitness”?
If it’s not too late (and apologies if asked elsewhere)
Is there a (probably true) evolutionary story for why our brains “beat themselves up?”
If so, when or in what circumstances is this cluster of emotions/actions/moods useful (at least in some sense)?
Assuming this cluster is indeed generally counterproductive, is this mostly because we live in an environment very unlike the ancestral one, or more because the goals we’re talking about (like “write a good EA Forum post”) aren’t highly correlated with “maximize reproductive fitness”?