The Fossil Record So Far

Where we’ve been, where we’re going, and how we’re doing.

Hi all,

It’s been just over two years since we launched Living Fossils, and we thought now would be a good moment to take a breath—to reflect on where we’ve been, where we’re headed, and how things are going.

Since we began, we’ve published more than 110 posts—mostly original content, usually on Wednesdays. Here’s a breakdown of the main themes we’ve explored along the way:

Emotions Measure & Motivate

Thesis: Emotions can be understood as adaptations designed to help humans measure important information and motivate action that would have been adaptive over the course of human evolution.

Examples:

• Emotions Measure and Motivate by Rob

• The Adaptive Role of Emotions by Josh

• Awe by Rob

• Ticklishness by Rob

• Digging into Boring by Rob

• Loneliness, Part I and II by Josh

• Contentedness by Rob

• The Warm Fuzzies by Rob

• Satisfaction by Rob

• Truth in Tears: The Function of Crying by Rob

• Antipathy by Rob

• She’s Got That Knowing Feeling by Rob

• Fear by Shani

• Sneezing by Rob

• The Feeling of the Need to Breathe by Rob

• Romantic Love by Rob

• Curiosity by Rob

• Depression by Rob

• The Need to Pee by Rob

• Contempt by Rob

• Sociopathy by Rob

• Boosterism by Rob

• Cute Crushing by Rob (to come)

Note: Rob is finishing up a book that applies the measure and motivate model to every human feeling/emotion.

Evolutionary Mismatch

Thesis: Much of modern psychological suffering stems from the mismatch between the environments we evolved for and the ones we live in—far more than clinical psychology tends to acknowledge.

Examples:

• Why the Computer is an Anxiety Machine by Josh

• Is Schooling a Damaging Evolutionary Mismatch? by Michael Strong

• Technology—Part I, II, III, and IV by Josh

• Just Tell Me What To Do by Josh

• Straightlining OCD by Josh

• The Risks of Avoiding Risk by Josh

• The Solution Problem—Part I, II, and III by Josh

• Taxes of the Built Environment by Josh

  • Diapers

  • Walls (to come)

  • Child Punishment (to come)

• The Luxury of Fudged Numbers by Josh

Note: In 2026, Josh will begin writing a book that investigates the impact of evolutionary mismatch on health and happiness.

Bashing the Academy

Thesis: Academic psychology, clinical psychology, and psychiatry—not to mention academia more broadly—are overdue for reform. Clinical psychology, in particular, needs a genuinely scientific framework. And no, we don’t mean CBT—we mean evolution.

• Evolutionary Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Wisdom by Shani

• So What? by Josh

• The Role of Politics in Therapy by Josh

• Challenges and Insults by Rob

• What To Do With Emotions—Part I, II, III, and IV by Josh and Rob

• Insults, Challenges, and Insults by Rob

• The Trials of Academic Publishing by Rob

• Returning to Ivan Illich by Josh

• Is ADHD Real? by Josh

• Critics, Clowns, and Helpful Vulcans by Rob

• Exactly how bogus is psychiatry? by Josh

• The Placebo Effect in Therapy, Part I and II

• How the Psychologist Got Confused by Rob

• The Willpower to Care About Academic Debates by Rob

• Care What Others Think by Josh

• It’s All Academic by Rob

• Is the first job of a therapist not to be absurd? by Josh

• Contra CBT by Josh (to come)

Greatest Hits

These articles don’t fit neatly into any of the above categories but rank among our readers’ favorites.

Examples:

• Giving and Receiving Advice by Josh

• What Would a Hunter-Gatherer Do? by Josh

• The Existential Relief of Having Children by Josh

• Why Do People Make Themselves Less Attractive? by Rob

• Why We Fight by Rob

• On the Origin of Wealth by Rob

Over and Out

Now let’s turn it over to you. How are we doing? Are there topics you’d like to see more of? Areas we haven’t covered but should? Feel free to chat us—chat is open now—or leave a comment below. We’d be happy to explore a topic of your suggestion as long as we have the requisite interest and expertise.

As always, thank you for reading, thinking, and evolving with us.