Voices
DAVID
KATZ
HUFFINGTON
10.28.12
Are We
Out of
Time?
THE STONE AGE TRAITS of
Homo sapiens make us a species
out of our native time. I worry
that certain modern perils raise
the prospect of running out of
time in the more familiar sense
of the phrase.
Our perceptions of time and
peril—our fight-or-flight impulse—were shaped by the long
sweep of our shared history. The
perils that mattered most were
the fangs and claws of predators.
ILLUSTRATION BY DONGYUN LEE
They chased us, and we fled—or
fought back. It all happened fast,
and then was over.
Most decisions we have made
throughout our history have
been routine choices relating to
food, shelter and social interaction. For much of this time, the
focus was on living out the day.
David Katz is
the director
at the Yale
Prevention
Research
Center