"Very little about the structural ecosystem we inhabit resembles the environment in which our psychology evolved. For most of human history, life unfolded in small groups, in motion, with goals that were of the immediate and visible, bottom of the Maslowian hierarchy, kind. If the anthropological record of nomadic and foraging societies tells us anything, it is that the modern concept of work toward abstract targets on a rigid schedule would have seemed entirely baffling."
"And yet here we are, checking in on Monday morning, only to let our mind wander to a Psychology Today post. Don't worry, we won't tell your boss. The same adaptability that allowed Homo sapiens to survive ice ages and deserts now allows us to survive our lives dictated by inboxes and calendar invites. From this lens, corporate life is not a deviation from our species' strengths but an expression of them."
Human psychology developed in environments characterized by small mobile groups, immediate survival goals, varied tasks, and clear team boundaries. Pre-agricultural life linked effort directly to sustenance: tracking prey and gathering determined immediate survival. The agricultural revolution created surplus, enabling specialization, trade, and time-bounded labor as distinct activity. Modern work toward abstract targets and rigid schedules diverges from ancestral rhythms and can feel baffling. The species' deep adaptability, however, allows individuals to function within bureaucratic structures governed by inboxes and calendars. The productive question is how to leverage evolved strengths to make work more aligned with innate proclivities and needs.
Read at Psychology Today
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