Mismatched: Why Life is Difficult in the Modern World

Individuals and organisations are increasingly facing problems in the modern world, ranging from diabetes and depression to job burnout and sustainability. Recent developments have implicated one important process that may underlie most, if not all, of these problems. That concept is termed “evolutionary mismatch” – a process that occurs when the environment changes faster than evolution has time to adjust.

In this talk, Dr Norman Li will discuss the workings of mismatch, examples of its pervasive reach, and implications for individuals and organisations.

Dr Li is Associate Professor of Psychology at Singapore Management University, where he has been designated as both a Lee Kuan Yew Research Fellow and Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow.  He adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the study of human behavior, integrating economic concepts and tools, evolutionary theory, and social psychological experimental methodology.
 

MEET THE SPEAKER

Dr Norman Li is Associate Professor of Psychology at Singapore Management University, where he has been designated as both a Lee Kuan Yew Research Fellow and Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow. Dr Li adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the study of human behaviour, integrating economic concepts and tools, evolutionary theory, and social psychological experimental methodology. His research focuses on human mating as well as problems at the individual, organisational and societal levels caused by the mismatch between people’s evolved psychological mechanisms and modern environments.