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If being inactive is pathological and abnormal, then how come we hate exercise so much?
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There was never any evolutionary selection pressure to make us like exercise. If you are a Neanderthal or Homo erectus or an early modern human, you didn’t think, “Gee, I’m going to go for a run so that I’m not going to get depressed”. They had to go long distances every day in order to survive. Not exercising was never an option, so there was never any selection pressure to make people like exercise. On the contrary, there was probably selection to help people avoid needless exercise when they could. Some hunter-gatherers had diets of about 2200 calories a day. When your energy intake is that low, you can’t afford to go for a jog just for fun.
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So evolution selected for traits that made us relax or be lazy?
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Of course. Just like any time you crave sugary, fatty foods – that would have been advantageous for early humans. It’s only now that they have become maladaptive.