I know a girl that is a fervent supporter of the Hunter-Gatherer meme. She believes fully that in paleolithic times everything was better because back then we didn&#x27;t pollute as much as we do and the people that are currently in power would not be. Everybody was healthy and lived long and carefree lives, flowers braided in long hair, snatching the occasional berry of a brush and once in a half year butchering a rabbit.<p>When I argue with her about this I can&#x27;t seem to get the point across that in paleolithic times she&#x27;d most likely be dead already, and that even though we may have missed the path to some kind of nirvana in our local maximum limited hill climbing algorithm we are <i>very</i> much better off than anybody, even the most healthy and lucky person in the long ago past.<p>Hunter-Gatherer fitness is not a thing to strive for in isolation, the utility of the energy expense is not balanced by anything you really need to have (say, the ability to outrun a predator) in our modern society.<p>That said, there is also no reason to let your body go to pot.