What of our primitive, Paleolithic mindset?

Contemporary society is fundamentally built upon technology. Scientific breakthroughs of the last two centuries have reshaped our worldview. During this period we have moved from a roughly greater dependence on nature to a relatively high level of security in that regard. Yet, just as our biology has not fundamentally changed in this span, our psychology has not necessarily evolved either. Most of the illnesses of this century—diabetes and others—are not caused by a malfunction of our bodies but by our bodies’ responses to excess. Those responses made sense in our hunter‑gatherer life, but they are no longer suited to our society. We continue to be triggered by the sound of birds, a signal of predator absence. Survival mechanisms remain deeply embedded in us, relics of a time when they were necessary. We find it hardest to put those deep‑seated fears into perspective, even though their legitimacy and usefulness are no longer as important. But what about our desires?

Humanity developed in a universe that had two paradox‑creating characteristics: a seemingly boundless horizon filled with uncertain resources.. The horizon seemed limitless because, relative to a human scale, Earth is vast. Whether nomadic or later settled in cities, the limited range of action compared with today gave the illusion of infinity. When a territory was exhausted, nomads moved elsewhere. Balance was struck among kingdoms, and a whole space existed for expansion. Moreover, our capacities for action at the time were also limited. Humans then were merely elements of their ecosystem and had to make do.

On this point things have changed dramatically, even reversed. With technological development our planet has become a finite space. Resources are limited and our capacity to act is such that we even contemplate artificially modifying the climate. Yet, has our relationship to the world really evolved? Not much. Throughout history, humans—especially the Western societies we discuss here—have often behaved like totalitarian conquerors. The conquest of the Americas is a prime example. As technology began to give us security and opulence, we exterminated indigenous peoples as if their mere presence threatened our completeness. We are no longer in the Paleolithic, when resources were scarce and survival hung in the balance at every turn. Still, the mechanism remains the same. Should Earth becomes uninhabitable, we will migrate to another planet. We must work to survive. We create robots to do the labor for us. Is our present life really as painful as it was a few centuries ago? This is not a call to oppose space exploration or AI development, but to adopt a critical mindset and adapt our attitude so it aligns better with our reality.

Paradoxically, our society has never been so prosperous and secure. Yet our desires and insecurities have not waned. Despite the comfort afforded by consumer culture, our wants are never fully satisfied. Like fear, might these desires be the heirs of our “cavalry‑man” experience? The universally accepted economic view that human desires are infinite in a finite environment—does it hold true? Could it be an unconscious legacy of our Paleolithic life, a failure to update our functioning to match our environment? And isn’t there, in our resistance to this updating, a mental construction that retrospectively justifies our attitude?

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