Human beings evolved through shared stories. That may sound strange when we think of stories as fiction, fantasy or entertainment, but from an evolutionary perspective, shared narratives are exactly what allowed us to move beyond tiny tribal groups and create complex societies. Around 70,000 years ago, what Yuval Noah Harari describes as the cognitive revolution allowed human beings to organise around ideas, symbols, myths, beliefs and collective understandings that existed beyond immediate physical reality. Money is a story. Religion is a story. Nations are stories. Laws are stories. Even identity itself is partly constructed through shared meaning. The extraordinary thing is that these shared realities allowed millions of people who had never met to cooperate, trust one another, build civilisations and move forward as a species.

What fascinates me now is that we may be entering the opposite phase of human development, where instead of creating shared realities, technology is creating fractured realities, fragmented nervous systems and increasingly unstable perceptions of truth itself. I found myself reflecting on this after seeing a completely fabricated image online of Timothée Chalamet supposedly receiving a Hollywood Walk of Fame star. It looked entirely convincing. Thousands of people had responded to it as though it were real. The emotional tone was authentic, the visual presentation was polished, and the social proof around it gave it the appearance of truth. Yet the event had never happened.

What struck me was not simply the existence of fake imagery, because manipulation has always existed in one form or another, but the speed, scale and neurological impact of it. Human beings evolved in environments where facial expressions, visual information and group consensus generally correlated with reality. If an entire tribe reacted to something as true, it usually was true within the context of survival. Our brains evolved to use social reinforcement as evidence. We are pattern-spotting creatures by nature. We constantly scan for coherence, emotional signals, group alignment and visual confirmation in order to orient ourselves safely within the world.

Now, however, the nervous system is attempting to navigate an environment in which almost anything can be fabricated convincingly, emotionally and instantly. Images can be generated that never existed. Videos can be manipulated. Quotes can be invented. Entire identities can be artificially constructed. At the same time, algorithms reward emotional intensity rather than accuracy, meaning the material most likely to spread is often the material most likely to provoke outrage, fear, idealisation or tribal certainty. The human nervous system is therefore being flooded with emotionally charged patterning that may have little connection to objective reality.

As someone who works deeply with nervous systems, trauma, genetics and behavioural patterns, I do not see this as a superficial social media issue. I think it is profoundly affecting cognition, trust, emotional regulation and the brain’s capacity to orient itself coherently in the modern world. We already know that chronic stress alters perception, increases hypervigilance and changes the way the brain filters information. We know that dopamine-driven environments condition compulsive scanning behaviours. We know that unresolved trauma heightens pattern detection because the brain becomes more focused on identifying threat, inconsistency and danger. Then we place human beings into a digital environment where reality itself feels unstable, where consensus can be manufactured, and where emotional manipulation is monetised at scale.

It is unsurprising that so many people now feel mentally exhausted, suspicious, emotionally reactive or disconnected from one another. Shared reality is one of the foundations of social trust. When two people enter a conversation carrying entirely different sets of “facts” absorbed from completely different algorithmic realities, communication itself becomes strained. One person believes something is obvious and universally accepted, while the other experiences it as fabricated nonsense. Neither necessarily realises that they have been shaped by entirely different informational ecosystems. This creates tension not only politically or socially, but neurologically and relationally.

I often think about how extraordinary the human brain actually is. We are meaning-making organisms constantly trying to create coherence from enormous amounts of incoming information. Pattern spotting is one of our greatest evolutionary gifts. It allows us to recognise faces, interpret emotion, predict danger, build relationships and create innovation. Yet pattern spotting also becomes vulnerable in environments saturated with artificial stimulation, misinformation and emotional manipulation. The brain still tries to join the dots, even when the dots themselves are distorted.

This is one reason I believe so strongly in nervous system regulation, critical thinking, emotional awareness and deeper biological support for mental functioning. The modern brain is under pressures that no previous generation has experienced. Sleep disruption, chronic stress, inflammatory lifestyles, social disconnection, dopamine overload, trauma activation and constant digital stimulation all affect cognition and perception. When I work with people, I often look beyond symptoms themselves and explore the terrain underneath, including methylation, neurotransmitter balance, inflammation, detoxification pathways, hormone regulation and the interaction between physiology and psychology. A dysregulated nervous system processes reality differently. An exhausted brain filters information differently. A chronically stressed body interprets the world differently.

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of our time is learning how to remain psychologically grounded in an era where artificial realities increasingly compete for our attention. Human beings still need discernment, reflection, emotional intelligence and genuine human connection. We still need spaces where complexity can exist without immediate outrage, where uncertainty can be tolerated, and where truth is approached thoughtfully rather than consumed algorithmically.

Ironically, in an age of artificial intelligence and limitless information, the ability to think clearly, regulate the nervous system and remain deeply connected to reality may become one of the most important human skills of all.