Anxiety and evolution: Has anxiety been good for humans? 6 Minute English - YouTube
Rob: Hello. This is 6 Minute English I'm Rob.
Neil: And I'm Neil.
Rob: Do you ever experience anxiety, Neil?
Neil: Anxiety?
Rob: Yes, you know, a feeling of
being really worried or nervous
without any real reason.
Neil: Well not really, but I know for some
people it can be quite a serious problem.
Rob: Well anxiety may be a result
of natural selection.
Neil: Natural selection? You mean,
the principle behind evolution?
Rob: Yes. The idea that life on this planet
has developed as a result
of random changes
in biology over many many years.
Neil: So why have anxiety, that seems
like a negative rather than
a positive thing to develop?
Rob: Well, we'll find out more in this
programme, but before we do, a quiz.
Charles Darwin is famous for
describing evolution by natural selection.
What was the name of the ship he
travelled on when he made
his discoveries? Was it:
a) HMS Beagle, b) HMS Badger,
or c) HMS Bear?
What do you think, Neil?
Neil: Well I'm pretty sure I know this one,
so I'm not going to give away
the answer just yet.
Rob: Well, you can let me know
at the end of the programme, before
I give the answer.
Right, Dr Randolph Nesse is a doctor
and psychologist. He has written
a lot about how evolution has
an impact on our mental condition,
particularly anxiety. Recently he spoke
on BBC Radio 4's 'Start the Week'
programme about this topic.
Listen out for the answer to this question.
How long did he treat patients
at the University of Michigan for?
Dr Randolph Nesse: Natural selection
has shaped all organisms to have
special states to cope with certain
kinds of circumstances. I treated
patients with anxiety disorders
for 40 years at the University of
Michigan. It was only half way through
that I started realising
that anxiety is there for a good reason.
Rob: So Neil, how long did he treat
patients for at the University of Michigan?
Neil: He says that he did that for 40 years,
but it was only after about 20 years or so
that he realised that we suffer
from anxiety for a good reason.
Rob: We'll find out that reason shortly
but first he said that
natural selection has shaped
all organisms. This means that we are
the result of natural selection. It has
made us what we are.
Neil: And it has made us able to cope
with different situations. To cope
with means being able to deal with,
being able to manage
a difficult situation.
Rob: And anxiety, if it's not too great,
is a way of dealing
with particular situations.
Let's hear from Dr Nesse again.
Dr Randolph Nesse: Natural selection
has shaped all organisms to have
special states to cope
with certain kinds of circumstances.
I treated patients with anxiety disorders
for 40 years at the University of
Michigan. It was only half way through
that I started realising
that anxiety is there for a good reason.
Rob: So why is anxiety a necessary thing,
why is it something that, within reason, is
not a bad emotion. Here's
Dr Nesse talking about his patients
who suffer from too much anxiety.
Dr Randolph Nesse: What you're having
is a normal kind of emergency response
which is great in
life-threatening situations but
for you it's a false alarm like a smoke
detector going off when you burn
the toast. And after that many of my
patients said: 'Oh, that makes
perfect sense, I think I won't need
your help after all, doctor'.
Rob: So what is anxiety?
Neil: Well, it's your body reacting
to danger, like an emergency response,
a warning. In really dangerous
situations, which could harm
you or even kill you, which
Dr Nesse describes as
life-threatening situations, it's a useful
response to warn you to take action or to
prepare for action.
Rob: But some people experience anxiety
when there is no real danger.
It's a false alarm, like when you burn the
toast and the smoke detector alarm
starts or as he says, goes off!
And he says that some patients can feel
less worried after that, when they realise
anxiety is a natural thing.
Let's hear from Dr Nesse again.
Dr Randolph Nesse: What you're
having is a normal kind of emergency
response which is great in
life-threatening situations but
for you it's a false alarm
like a smoke detector going off
when you burn the toast. And after
that many of my patients said : 'Oh, that
makes perfect sense, I think I won't need
your help after all, doctor'.
Rob: Time now to review
today's vocabulary, but first,
let's have the answer to the quiz
question. What was the name of
the ship Charles Darwin travelled on
when he made his discoveries
about evolution? Was it:
a) HMS Beagle, b) HMS Badger,
or c) HMS Bear?
What do you think, Neil?
Neil: Well, I'm pretty sure it's HMS Beagle.
Rob: Well, you are right. Charles Darwin
travelled on HMS Beagle.
Congratulations if you also
knew that. Now, on with today's
vocabulary. We were talking about
anxiety, a feeling of
being worried or scared, a feeling
that something isn't quite right.
Neil: Dr Nesse suggests that anxiety is
a result of natural selection.
This is the principle of
evolution whereby random changes in the
biology of a living thing can make it more
likely to survive in
a particular environment.
Rob: These changes shape the
living thing. They make it what it is.
They help it to cope with
different situations. Which means that
they help it manage or
deal with those situations.
Neil: A life-threatening situation is
a very dangerous situation which
could cause serious
injury or even death.
Rob: And finally there was the
phrasal verb to go off. For example,
if an alarm goes off,
it means that is starts making a loud
noise as a warning. Right,
before any alarms start
to go off here, we need to wrap up.
That's all from us today, do join us
next time. Until then,
you can find us online, on social media
and on our app. Look out for
bbclearningenglish.
Bye for now.
Neil: Goodbye!
