Question

What features of the environment are people “wired” to detect? Why? Would it be adaptive for us to be sensitive to other features? What would they be?

Answer 1

The human brain is "wired" to detect the immediate or sudden changes of the environment. This is because of the evolutionary aspect, as detecting the immediate changes has helped human beings to sense the threat and has helped to either fight it out or has helped in flight. Hence, humans beings are adapted to sense the immediate or short term changes in the environment.

We also need to detect the long term change that have more drastic effects on the environment and us. We need to sense the slow climatic changes in the environment, the slow environmental pollution and the changing life styles of ours that is becoming more unhealthier with each day. Detecting these slow or long term changes are essential for us for our sustenance in the long run.