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If panic was never appropriate, the ability to panic either would never have developed or disappeared in humans a long time ago.
by anoncake 7y ago
If panic was never appropriate, the ability to panic either would never have developed or disappeared in humans a long time ago.
- Firadeoclus 7y agoOnly if it was sufficiently detrimental, and did not arise as a byproduct of other, evolutionarily beneficial changes. If it had "disappeared in humans a long time ago" then that still implies a time when it existed. And if it could have existed, it could exist now.
- mrfredward 7y agoThe word "panic" is usually used to describe someone behaving irrationally. If you see a guy running from a lion, you don't say "he's panicking". If you see a guy pacing and sweating because he has to do his taxes, you do say "he's panicking". Many of the same biological mechanisms are at work, but the word is most commonly used when those mechanisms lead you astray.