Why do we behave the way we do?
Why are we capable of extraordinary love, kindness, creativity, and cooperation, yet also war, greed, exploitation, and destruction?
This question has fascinated humanity for centuries.
Recently, I listened to the Australian biologist and author Jeremy Griffith’s explanation of what he calls “the human condition”(https://www.humancondition.com)
.” In simple terms, Griffith argues that many of humanity’s problems stem from a conflict that emerged as our conscious intellect developed from pure instinct and began questioning and overriding our instincts.
Whether or not one agrees with every detail of his explanation, I found his reasoning fascinating.
In fact, I agree with his central premise. The human condition is not only due to our brute instincts, but just as much to our intellect. Thus, we are not programmed for only selfish survival behavior.
But I would take it one step further.
Because, if our instincts were innate,
where did our intellect come from?
Where did our ego come from?
The answer is obvious:
They evolved within an environment.
Human beings did not emerge separately from nature. We were shaped by it.
The climate shaped us.
The landscape shaped us.
Scarcity shaped us.
Abundance shaped us.
Challenges shaped us.
Relationships shaped us.
Everything that we are today emerged through a long interaction between life and the environment.
Creating Environments
But then something remarkable happened.
Humans began creating environments of their own.
Families.
Villages.
Cities.
Cultures.
Governments.
Economic systems.
The environment shaped us, and then we began shaping the environment.
the Economic System
Today, the environment is no longer only forests, mountains, rivers, predators, and weather. It is also schools, media, laws, technology, social norms, and the economic system within which we live.
And these systems influence us every day.
They influence our priorities.
They influence our fears.
They influence our relationships.
They influence our behavior.
In other words, the systems we create become part of the environment that shapes us.
Redesigning the System
This leads to a profound question.
If environment helped create the human condition, could a different environment help transform it?
Not by changing human nature.
Not by forcing people to become different.
But by redesigning the systems within which we live.
We already know that behavior changes when environments change.
A child raised in safety often develops differently than one raised in fear.
A cooperative workplace produces different behavior than a toxic one.
Different cultures produce different values and habits.
The environment matters
So perhaps the question is not whether human beings are fundamentally good or bad.
Perhaps the question is:
What kind of environment brings out the best in us?
What kind of system encourages cooperation rather than conflict?
Stewardship rather than exploitation?
Creativity rather than survival anxiety?
Problem-solving rather than competition for scarce tokens?
Maybe understanding the human condition is only the first step.
The second step is asking what kind of world we want to build now that we understand it.
Because if the environment helped shape us into who we are, then humanity’s future may ultimately depend on the environment we choose to create together.
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If this idea resonates with you, I ask you to please share this article.
And if you would like to explore a vision of a future society built around a different environment of cooperation, stewardship, and abundance rather than money and ownership, you may enjoy the novel Waking Up – A Journey Towards a New Dawn for Humanity.
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