We have heard all about the millions of years humanity spent in hunting and gathering clams through the rise of lifestyle and diet trends like paleo and fasting,
Aiming to take us back to our roots.
Life on the Savannah Plain,
Though,
Was short and very fragile.
Can you imagine wandering all day in search of food and shelter,
Living in constant fear of predators,
And eating mostly plants,
Scavenged animals,
And insects,
With natural life-threatening hazards around every corner?
Humans were weak,
But we survived,
And eventually thrived,
In these harsh and demanding conditions by relying on our wits.
The ultimate problem-solving animal,
Humans have always found ingenious ways to survive,
And our instincts developed around these strategies.
The thoughts and emotions that best served our ancestors were programmed into their psyches and continue to drive human behavior today.
Chief among them are instinct before reason.
In an uncertain world,
Those who survived always had their emotional radar,
Call it instinct,
Turned on.
And our ancestors,
At the mercy of wild predators or impending natural disasters,
Came to trust their instincts above all else.
That reliance on instinct undoubtedly saved human lives,
Allowing those who possessed keen instincts to reproduce.
So for human beings,
No less than for any other animal,
Instincts are the first screen to all information received.
We can clearly see the impact instincts has on other animals.
It is evident in every move they make,
From their mating and hunting to survival habits.
The traditional view of the world is one where animals are ruled by instincts,
And humans evolved beyond these basic,
Primitive drives,
Emerging into a new era dictated by reason.
William James took the opposite view in his seminal book,
Principles of Psychology,
One of the founding works of experimental psychology.
He argued that human behavior was more flexibly intelligent than that of other animals because we have more instincts than they do,
Not fewer.
We tend to be blind to the existence of these instincts,
However,
Precisely because they work so well,
Because they process information so effortlessly and automatically.
Instincts structure our thoughts so powerfully that it can be difficult to imagine how things would be otherwise.
We live in a culture that believes we are making choices from dawn to dark,
That we choose and choose and choose,
And decide and decide and decide.
We have no idea how much we are compelled in a very ancient,
Primitive way.
Instincts are completely unconscious.
We don't choose them.
They are a biological,
Hormone-run operating system in your body and brain that urges us to respond until tension is released.
Those whose instincts were better designed for finding a mate,
Gathering food,
And defending themselves left more children,
And we are descended from them.
Much of the behavior we find problematic in our lives today are a result of our instincts,
And not at all related to who we are.
Our instincts drive a whole host of behaviors and adaptations that can feel pretty icky.
The pull of the environment,
Our diffused awareness,
And the ever-present need for safety can create all kinds of complications,
Especially when conflicting with societal messages and internal expectations of how we should show up in the world.
So here's what's going to happen.
We are going to illuminate some of these human instincts in light of how they show up in the 21st century,
The impact they have in your life,
And hopefully free you from the grip they have on your identity.
Here is a preview of the way instincts show up today.
When you are scattered with a hard time focusing,
Instinct.
When you are feeling constantly overwhelmed,
Instinct.
Your insecurities,
Instinct.
When you act obsessive,
Instinct.
When you feel dependent in relationships,
Instinct.
When you are not feeling attractive enough,
Instinct.
Being competitive,
Instinct.
Losing your confidence,
Instinct.
Anxiety,
Instinct.
Ugh,
I know.
Why on earth would natural selection favor qualities that make us feel so shitty?
We are going to dive into all of them,
Discover why they exist,
Why they are expressing themselves this way now,
And what you can do to regain power in your life.
The good news is,
None of these things are you.
Natural selection is a slow process,
And there just haven't been enough generations for us to rewire our brains to fit into our post-industrial life.
Think about how long it took for these patterns to be etched in our DNA.
Tens of millions of years.
Be patient with yourself as you work to change your future.
