Modern life is unnatural

[rockyraccoon]

I just read a book on human evolution that was very enlightening by Robert Dunbar, about how humans evolved mostly to have groups of 150 people. Most Hunter gatherer tribes sit around 150 members, and this is basically how things stayed for the 100k years where we lived as anotomically modern humans.

Krishnamurti said "it's no sign of health to be suited to a sick society". I feel that this world of social media, cars, planes, guns, cloud storage, emails, fast fashion, and skyscrapers isn't something I'm designed for. It's like putting a saltwater fish in a pond or something, it goes against my biology.

I'm trying to not be suicidal and live as happy and healthy if a life as I can. I have a positivity Facebook group, I text my parents and friends every day, and even switched to a physical job where I am outside breathing fresh air. But all of these are like trying to wrangle some semblance of naturalness out of a profoundly unnatural world.

Modern Hunter gatherers find the idea of suicide hilarious, they don't understand how much the modern world sucks and is bullshit to live through.

Like I said, I'm trying to wrangle as natural of a life as I can for myself without leaving society and living on a commune or something. Maybe the first part would be to cut out porn and reduce my screen time as well.

It's just very hard sometimes, as I'm sure anyone on this site is aware.

 

[Grav]

It makes sense but we've evolved through different stages so not sure hunter/gatherer is the only form of human groupings we should have. Don't know what I'd call this stage? But yes less screen time and porn probably will be a big help. Maybe the most you can do is get as close to that earlier group lifestyle however you want to do it. Some drop off the grid completely, others just get back to some simpler but still "modern" living. I'm dabbling around the second option, not a huge lifestyle change but gradually adding more ways to live than "high-speed, screen, money money" every day.

 

[timf]

We moved to a rural area about 20 years ago. Back then a guy at the lumber store said that they had city people move to the country and after about a year they usually moved back to the city. I do not believe in evolution as I have seen no evidence of increasing biological complexity. However, I do agree that society is becoming increasingly toxic.

As Grav advises, smaller steps may help you find the niche that is right for you.