Adam Hunt

When the eyes stop finding depth and variation, thought flattens too. Sensory ecology predicts it: monotony is not calm, it’s starvation of information.

We evolved to expect feedback from faces, not screens. The nervous system still measures safety by eye contact, tone, and shared rhythm. A thousand “likes” can’t replace a single nod across a table. At least, not until we are all safely encultured in the coming AI-linked bodysuits :)

Anxiety isn’t always over-reaction. Sometimes it’s under-stimulation: the body looking for cues it no longer finds. Subtle sensory change—light, sound, air—can quiet the search. Not in the more extreme cases, of course, but a lit incense stick and an open window does wonders for me, personally.

We often chase efficiency by standardising roles. Yet human systems, like natural ones, depend on redundancy — overlapping skills, divergent styles. Resilience; adaptation to changing environments [and the environment is always changing] often hides in the inefficiencies we prune away.

A brain evolved to track rustling leaves still tries to track rustling tabs. It’s doing its best. But the design brief was different.

My first paper, out in PsychReview!!

Along with @orbenamy.bsky.social, Nik & @jaeggiadrian.bsky.social, @realadamhunt.bsky.social & I revisit an old theoretical question using concepts from evo psychiatry and anthro:

Why do mixed associations exist b/w social media & mental health?

A 🧵

Every organisation is an ecosystem of specialisations. This isn't just theoretical - it's a reality inherent to all complex systems. Perhaps, then, the question isn’t necessarily “who fits our culture?” but “what niche are we failing to create?”

Frontiers | Moving beyond disclosure: rethinking universal support for neurodivergent employees Neurodivergent individuals represent an estimated 15-20% of the global population (Doyle, 2020), yet they continue to face significant barriers to workplace ...

buff.ly/W41vBU3

"Neurodivergent individuals represent an estimated 15-20% of the global population, yet they continue to face significant barriers to workplace inclusion....reduces reliance on disclosure by implementing universal support, while also fostering a culture that makes voluntary disclosure safe."

Link: buff.ly/zgNjFfq

A new systematic review (April 2025) of neurodiversity in computing education highlights that many interventions lack empirical support...

"Most papers provided curricular recommendations that lacked empirical evidence to support those recommendations."

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A recent review (19 Aug 2025) suggests 'grouping anxiety disorders into broader categories – namely, fear-dominant, mixed, and anxiety-dominant'. Plausible that evolutionary analysis of those distinct categories would be useful.

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....

A new scoping review finds that trust, social identification, communication, incentives and norms are key levers in group cooperation across commons and organisations. Interesting stuff - link in thread.

buff.ly/cSj27Sf

"The ‘I’ in Egalitarianism: Hadza Hunter-Gatherers Averse to Inequality Primarily when Personally Unfavourable" finds interesting patterns about inequality aversion in small-scale societies - basically, they're selfish too! Norms are needed to keep selfishness in check...

Coalition instincts are double-edged: they bind teams but can create silos. The solution isn’t to eliminate group identity - rather, it’s to build nested loyalties: project, team, organisation. Hierarchies of belonging mirror the social scaffolds humans evolved with - family, extended family, tribe.

Teaching and learning from others is the critical human skill. We are motivated through the impressions we leave on others in our peer group. Education that reintroduces imitation and small-group practice reconnects students with evolved incentives.

Smartphones are critical to modern working life, we can hardly do without them - nor should we. But our attention systems evolved to be too sensitive to microscopic interruptions.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

"...Late chronotypes had a 7 % lower depression risk per extra hour of daylight exposure..." A longitudinal study shows that daylight exposure is linked to lower depression scores - independent of exercise and social contact, at least in "night owls" (late chronotypes.)

buff.ly/qj8gU9o

A recent mapping review recommends that managing neurodiversity in work settings should emphasise systemic structure, not only individual accommodations. In mismatch terms, the structure should adapt to varied cognitive niches, not expect uniform minds.

buff.ly/s4VskeT

A large new survey finds misconceptions of ADHD and autism among corporate employees, even when awareness is high. Interesting to wonder how much hinges on simplistic 'broken brain' explanatory models

Why is everyone so 'Anxious?' One potential answer, hugely overlooked, is simply that our brains evolved to be hypersensitive to tiny social threats—slight status shifts, non-verbal signals. In today’s large but flattened hierarchies, many social feedback loops feel ambiguous!

Link: buff.ly/uk4z6c2

A call came out for a “biology‑informed” framework for mental disorders that weaves in genetics, behaviour, and systems.

Biology has informed psychiatry for decades!

Whats missing is reference to the evolutionary theory that helps us understand biology!!

Frontiers | ADHD and autism in Neurocognitive Mismatch Theory: distinct neurodevelopmental incompatibilities with the market-based system ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) represent distinct neurodevelopmental conditions with unique profiles, yet they share susceptibility to environmental...

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....