Alternative Energy DIY

AN EVOLUTIONARY REASON TO GIVE UP Evolutionary predisposition is the analysis du jour when describing all of human behaviour. These days everything we do--from appreciate music to donate to charity--evidently boils down to our desire to lure a mate and make many babies. Now it seems a scientific study has proven an evolutionary reason for depression: Dr [Randolph] Nesse’s hypothesis is that, as pain stops you doing damaging physical things, so low mood stops you doing damaging mental ones—in particular, pursuing unreachable goals. Pursuing such goals is a waste of energy and resources. Therefore, he argues, there is likely to be an evolved mechanism that identifies certain goals as unattainable and inhibits their pursuit—and he believes that low mood is at least part of that mechanism. A study published this month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests this clever idea might even be true. The conclusion to this study is that mild depression is in fact a healthy response to failure.