The Curse of the Ape-Man

An evolutionary and neuroscientific investigation into why the very abilities that define us as humans may also be the source of our deepest suffering

Our brains project, judge, desire, reject, and worry endlessly. We live in a permanent state of mental narration, trapped in fears, expectations, and imagined futures, far from the reality of the present moment. The result? Chronic stress and a brain caught in a cycle of ongoing psychological inflammation.

In The Curse of the Ape-Man, paleoanthropologist Emiliano Bruner explores the evolutionary conflict at the core of our suffering: the excessive mental rumination and wandering that have become defining traits of Homo sapiens. Bruner proposes that the universality of stress and anxiety points to a biological origin. These vulnerabilities are not personal flaws, but consequences of our species' cognitive evolution.

The mental superpower that allows us to process symbols, handle abstract language, and imagine infinite scenarios has also made us prone to overload, worry, and disconnection from the present. Drawing from evolutionary biology, neuroscience, anthropology, and primatology, Bruner examines how attention, internal dialogue, and cognitive habits relate to wellbeing— and how we might restore a more balanced mental and emotional state.

A reflective rethinking of anxiety and inner turmoil as evolutionary side effects—not errors, but the cost of a brilliant, overactive mind.