Assumption: threat assessment (and, in part, reaction) is an important part of the human physiology, it is not consciously controlled.
In our modern western society situations often arise when there are no real perceived threats - we can live in apparent comfort without fear of our physical safety being threatened. Of course there is still a threat of violence from other people, but I’d argue that the frequency of such threats is significantly less than what say homo-erectus was used to. Especially if you live in a good area.
That being the case, you have this threat assessment working away like a computer program that is always running regardless of whether there are any perceived threats or not. Then when the mind is idle the imagination kicks in and fills in the gaps resulting in imaginary threats. So in effect the problem is a result of the imagination messing with a neurological process with undesirable results.
So paranoia then is a necessity born of a combination of our developing mental faculties plus a life devoid of danger.
If that is right there are two solutions: the mind will evolve past this setback, or we will have to introduce a greater degree of threat into our lives (as many people do with extreme sports etc.).
I don’t think I will participate in this debate, but nevertheless, it seems to me that you should define clearly what kind of paranoia you’re talking about.
Are you refering to what people call in a loosy way “paranoia”, for instance people believing without serious objective reason that their boss intend to fire them, or paranoia in the clinical sense, for instance people who believe that the army use telephatic devices to read their thoughts and control their actions?
Why do you say it is important to our physiology? I agree that it is a important aspect of our ability to function, it evolving from our need to escape predators to now escape our more social “predators”.
Throughout history we have always faced threats, whenever there was not a threat we created a situation so that there was. Just in this century we have had two world wars, a cold war and the introduction of global terrorism. That surely must count as a threat to life?
I agree with you that our paranoia seems to have evolved from a time-gone-by. And that in this modern age whereby its primary purpose has ceased to be, our consciousness has needed to create alternatives whether that is through placing ourselves in peril or creating a sense of fear for no logical cause, i.e. paranoia. This instinct we have is an instinct I believe we will continue to carry, because we as a species keep placing ourselves in situations that make use of its abilities. Fear, and the “flight or flee” instinct help us but it is through our own paranoias that we come to put ourselves in a position to use them.
