Yesterday’s post introduced the idea that each of us consists of two entities: 

• A body and mind that evolved over the first 99.9% of human history (the caveman). 
• An evolved consciousness capable of reasoning beyond these primitive caveman instincts. 

Over the next two months, we’ll be focusing on a simple problem: How can the evolved consciousness be used to train the caveman for effective living in the modern world?

The first step was discussed yesterday: give your caveman a name. 

The second step is to really understand this philosophy. This is the topic of today and tomorrow. 

A brief human history

The first modern humans emerged around 200 millennia ago. Back then, times were tough. There was no electricity, cars, or internet. There wasn’t even a supermarket to get food. 

Nope, back then, every day was a struggle to stay alive. All efforts had to be devoted to getting enough food for survival and protecting ourselves against predators and rival tribes. 

As the millennia ticked by, very little changed. Some more sophisticated civilizations slowly rose and fell, but still only kings and emperors had access to the material wealth we take for granted today. 

It was only about 200 years ago that the exploitation of fossil fuels really ignited human progress. As shown below, we used this abundant new energy source to fuel a tremendous population explosion.

The period before this population boom represents about 99.9% of human history. Over these 200 millennia, we evolved all the instincts and emotions required to ensure survival in our harsh environment. 

Then, in an evolutionary blink of an eye, our environment changed beyond all recognition. Material abundance is now all around us and the daily problems we’re dealing with are totally different. 

And that’s the problem: Many of our instincts and emotions are useless for building a good life in this new environment of great abundance and great complexity. 

Accepting your caveman

The most immediate benefit from this understanding is a sense of self-acceptance. From this viewpoint, it’s clear that your inability to consistently do the right things does not make you a bad person. You, like the rest of us, are simply a caveman (or cavewoman 🙂 ) stuck in the future. 

Accepting this truth on a deep level can be quite liberating. It will also make it a lot easier to train your caveman for effective living in our rapidly changing society. 

Try to remember this the next time you’re drawn to do something you know is bad for you. You can even strike up a little conversation with your caveman. Explain that you understand where he’s coming from, but that his instinctive response is no longer valid today. See what happens…

Then join me again tomorrow when we dig into the five outdated emotions causing most of the misery in today’s world.