I like living in a big city. I grew up in a small town and as soon as I graduated I moved to London. I just couldn’t imagine living anywhere else (in England). I later lived in Milan, Chicago, and now New York. But I’ve always thought that considering the continuum of human evolution, cities were unnatural and mentally unhealthy places to live. We’re not yet evolved to effectively cope with the demands and stresses of the big city.
This is the subject of an article in the Boston Globe which focuses on the mentally challenging aspects of city life and the restorative values of even small patches of nature.
I long ago moved out of Manhattan, preferring the relative bucollery of the outer boroughs. And I enjoy taking my run around the local park. So, this all seems subjectively sensible to me.
Interestingly for readers of this blog, the article mentions that working-memory has been found to be diminished even by walking down a city street. So, if you live in a city, training your working-memory would seem to be a good strategy for coping!
Tags: brain-training, city life, working-memory