I think the real answer is that it plays an important role in making sure you respond appropriately to being chased by a tiger. For hundreds of thousands of years it was perfectly fine operating in that role, and then in the last ten thousand we accidentally created a civilization where some people get way too much of it.
Also, humans are not machines, we need rest and relaxation. It’s debatable for why, but life would be a lot more boring if we didn’t have a need for relaxation, art, recreation, etc. Just pure work for survival.
Did we ever figure out why we evolved brains that produce cortisol?
I think the real answer is that it plays an important role in making sure you respond appropriately to being chased by a tiger. For hundreds of thousands of years it was perfectly fine operating in that role, and then in the last ten thousand we accidentally created a civilization where some people get way too much of it.
Also, humans are not machines, we need rest and relaxation. It’s debatable for why, but life would be a lot more boring if we didn’t have a need for relaxation, art, recreation, etc. Just pure work for survival.
Because people who are born lucky enough to have an easy life are likely to have more kids.
Using cortisol to magnify that improves selection bias.
The rest is math.
Evolution is a bitch.
Uh, poor people tend to have more children than rich people.