Rather than
Most people currently suffer from anxiety rather than ancient people in the past.
Literally this means:
- Modern people suffer from anxiety.
- Modern people do not suffer from ancient people.
First of all I think our writer would be better off using unlike:
Most modern people suffer from anxiety, unlike ancient people in the past.
Here the meaning is:
- Modern people suffer from anxiety.
- Ancient people in the past did not suffer from anxiety.
- Modern people are not like ancient people.
Rather (than) #1
You can use rather in situations in which you express a preference:
Rather than spend 2 hours a day stuck in traffic, I would prefer to stay at home.
Being stuck in traffic is no fun. I'd rather stay at home and watch a movie on Netflix.
Rather (than) #2
You can also use rather to show that something belongs more to one category and less to another:
This book is journalism rather than science.
The best security policies are proactive rather than reactive.
Use body wash rather than bar soap.
See here for more examples.