Meet Grook.
Grook was one of your ancestors. He lived in the same place you do, but only 12,000 years ago. Back then, it was a Savannah or a forest, not a gated community with a fitness center and some tennis courts. Grook lived a simple life. He spent mornings hunting and gathering food, so he moved constantly and was extremely fit.
Grook and other members of their tribe walked and ran between 10 and 15 kilometers a day, climbed, squatted, threw spears, and carried game without protein powder or gym memberships. They did this barefoot while dodging deadly scorpions and thorns along the way. His diet was varied and extremely healthy. The only sweet food a hunter-gatherer like Grook had access to was ripped fruit. After getting food, the tribe came back in the early afternoon for lunch, and they’d gossip, tell stories, and play. At night, Grook would share a cave with bats and a cousin named Thok. At least, he didn’t have to pay rent.
Although his life sounds peachy, the ancient world was brutal, and Grook was surrounded by death. At the time, the average life expectancy was 30 to 40 years, but your chances of surviving and making it to your 60s dramatically improved if you made it through the first years of your life. There were rare cases when some people made it to their eighties, but this was the exception and not the rule. Accidents that we now see as common were deadly back then. If someone from the group was seen as a liability, they were killed, sometimes on the spot. If you limped, you were dead. Also, if you looked funny, you were dead. On top of that, some of those who made it would be sacrificed for some god.
Naturally, Grook’s world was stressful, but stress came in small bursts, usually when a tiger wanted to eat him or when there were snakes around. Of course, dealing with other people was stressful as well. Back then, getting kicked out of the group meant death. Humans thrived when they were in small tribes. On their own, though, they’d die almost immediately.
Here’s something fascinating I read as I researched this article. Unlike other animals, humans are born prematurely, which means children are dependent for several years, needing protection and education from their elders. This is why we rely on social abilities as much as we do. Raising other humans successfully demanded a tribe, so evolution favored humans who formed strong social ties.
The most common causes of death in ancient times: infections, injuries, childbirth complications, malnutrition, exposure to the elements, and other humans.
Now let’s fast forward 12,000 years to a world you’re probably familiar with.
Meet Karen.
You know Karen well because she could be your sister, friend, or wife. Maybe Karen is you. Karen isn’t mean, but she complains all the time despite being surrounded by marvels of engineering and progress. To a certain extent, this isn’t her fault. She got used to the comforts of the modern world and doesn’t know any better.
Karen lives in a metropolitan area with 500,000 people. So much for a small tribe. Her life is… well, it’s complicated. She’s a middle manager in a digital company and suffers from burnout from doing too many Zoom calls. As part of her job, she spends a large part of the day looking at the same things on a glassy rectangle.
She knows sitting down for most of her day is killing her, so she has to schedule some form of exercise, which is not an organic part of her routine. In fact, she pays $120 to swing kettlebells in air-conditioned agony. To stay fit, Karen eats all kinds of supplements and avoids most sections of the supermarket like the plague. Sweet, high-calorie foods are the norm in the modern world. Karen pays $2,500 a month for a one-bedroom with “natural stone” features. Her bedroom is still a cave, but at least it has Wi-Fi.
Karen is surrounded by comfort. She sleeps on a memory foam mattress with a weighted blanket, silk pillowcases, and a white noise machine tuned to “ocean breeze.” She has a self-cleaning Japanese bidet with seat warmers and Bluetooth connectivity. Although Grook ate berries and hoped they didn’t kill him, Karen customizes a venti oat milk caramel macchiato with two pumps of vanilla and foam, “but like not too foamy.” Karen orders groceries online while binge-watching a documentary about food insecurity. For Karen ancestors, “shopping” meant tracking a gazelle for 12 hours. Unlike Grook, Karen has countless options when it comes to taking care of her health. She has access to three specialists, a therapist, and an app that tracks hydration.
Karen lives a nerfy life, but her life can be stressful, too. Unlike Grook, Karen experiences chronic stress—the kind that, once it shows up, sticks around like that weird uncle at Thanksgiving who brings his own folding chair and a conspiracy theory. She’s constantly worried about the economy, her job, and being left on read. Needless to say, she worries about many things, and social media and a 24/7 news cycle don’t make things easier. Socializing is also difficult. Grook might have socialized constantly, but Karen needs to save that for the weekends. She also has thousands of Instagram followers, most of whom she’s never met and probably wouldn’t recognize in person. She also avoids her neighbors because she doesn’t remember their names, but it’s way too late to ask now.
Most common causes of death in the 21st century: heart disease, Cancer, stroke, diabetes, stress-related conditions, mental health issues, and accidental overdoses.
Despite 12,000 years of progress, our brains are still wired for Grook’s world. We’re not built for email, gig work, or doomscrolling. We’re built for berries, gossip, and sprinting away from tigers. Karen may live longer, safer, and more comfortably than Grook ever dreamed of, but she’s also more anxious, disconnected, and confused by too many choices. We’re still Grook—just with better hygiene, worse posture, and a caffeine addiction. So maybe the next time the Wi-Fi is slow or the barista gets your oat milk order wrong, take a deep breath and remember: you’re alive, you’re safe, and you didn’t get kicked out of the tribe. That alone is something to be grateful for.
To put this article in context, I made a timeline with some key moments in the history of humanity.
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