Want to be happy and healthy? Don’t look to the modern world…for that we need to look to the distant past…

I don’t mean this post to be a downer. While we have some stiff headwinds today, there are still a lot of things in our control to help us live a good life full of joy and contentment. But I think the reason that many of us today feel a sense of unease, anxiety, and discontentment is that our caveman brain is ill-equipped to function in modern times. For millions of years and over thousands of generations, we’ve evolved to live a certain way in small bands of hunter-gatherer tribes. Because we are the end result of millions of years of evolutionary trial-and-error, both our body and our mind are perfectly adapted – to living in small tribes of nomadic hunter gatherers, that is.

It’s only been about 10,000 years since the Agricultural Revolution, and around 250 years since the Industrial Revolution. And today’s modern living, with its non-stop flow of information, barrage of bad news on t.v., radio, and smartphones, constant emails and phone calls, Internet surfing, social media, chronic work and money stress, inequality, isolation, disconnectedness, and chemical and behavioral addictions, to name a few, has only been here on the order of decades. These time frames are but a blink of the eye in evolutionary terms, and our brains have not caught up. We really are cavemen living in modern times, and we suffer as a result.

The key to contentment and, occasionally, joy is found in the hunter-gatherer ways that we’ve drifted away from. The more we can live in accordance with our ancient ancestors, the more we’ll be in line with our evolution, and the better off we’ll be. Not that we need to roam the earth in small bands, hunting and gathering, but rather bending our current modern lives closer towards how we used to live.

Our ancient ancestors lived in small, nomadic tribes, where everyone was more-or-less equal, all had a job to do and were pulling in the same direction, and everyone looked out for one another. The men left camp and hunted together for fish, shellfish, fowl, and game, while the women foraged nearer camp for nuts, seeds, insects, plants, berries, and tubers, and prepared food at camp. The kids were raised together as a group by the entire tribe, mostly by the women in a communal environment, with mom, Grandma, sisters, aunts, cousins, and friends all working together. Men provided resources and protection, and taught the kids life lessons and provided support and rights-of-passage they would need to thrive. They spent most of their days outdoors and active and became expert on their environment. Once food was secured, there was time for play and down time. Meals were prepared and shared together around a campfire. Everyone had a purpose, worked together towards a common goal, looked out for each other, and had very strong social bonds. They had to live this way, really, or else they wouldn’t survive.

We are the end result of an unbroken chain of ancestors and the millions of years of trial-and-error that helped them survive and reproduce. Today, however, most of us live in a fragmented, disconnected society, with much inequality, generally in isolation, and an “every man for himself” culture. We spend most of our time either getting ready for work, decompressing from work, or in a cubicle, staring at a computer and talking on the phone, under long-term chronic stress due to worry about work, money, family, relationships. Not much time to play outdoors and soak up the sunshine, and not many shared meals around a (proverbial) campfire. If we don’t have a strong tribe arrangement at work, we probably spend most of our day in isolation, without a strong sense of purpose or belonging. It’s especially hard if you feel your work is not contributing to the greater good, and you’re just working for the money.

What are the main themes of how our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived to help guide us? Here’s a short list:

• Tribes of 50 to 100 people or less;
• Egalitarian (yes, there were leaders but most of the tribe had the same status, more-or-less);
• Everyone in the tribe looked out for one another;
• Gossip – this is how the tribe kept tabs on each other;
• If one person was causing trouble or taking more of their fair share of resources, the tribe would instantly correct the problem – if that didn’t work they would be banished or killed;
• Kids were raised together by large, communal groups of (mostly) women;
• Diet consisted of mostly animals, and the entire animal was eaten – fat, organs, muscle meat, bone marrow, skin, blood; tubers; seasonal fruits and berries; and occasional honey;
• They drank fresh spring water or surface water containing minerals from the earth;
• Plenty of sunlight and vitamin D;
• Most time was spent outdoors;
• Lots of physical and mental activity, primarily to solve problems of survival and to master the landscape;
• A clear, defined purpose in life – to hunt, gather, make shelter, and raise a family.

What’s the best way to arrange our lives to better live in harmony with our ancient ancestors? I don’t have the answer, and it will be different for everyone, but the closer you can get to the above list, the better. Here are some main themes that can guide us. The modern world makes some of these difficult and we’ll need to work hard to correct this – I know I do:

• Build a tribe by surrounding yourself with friends, family, and good work colleagues, and share experiences;
• Prepare and share meals together as much as possible;
• Eat whole foods raised as close as possible to their native conditions – plants raised in nutrient-rich, organic soils, animals raised on a pasture eating grass grown in nutrient-rich soils, chickens on pasture eating bugs, etc.
• Minimize sugar, refined carbs, and seed oils;
• Don’t smoke;
• Drink booze in moderation;
• Go to the gym every day and lift weights, run, bike, swim, or attend workout classes – the idea is to tire yourself out physically (in a good way) and get your endorphins flowing;
• You’ll likely be better off if the members of your tribe generally have the same status, and there’s not a lot of inequality amongst the group – there is nothing more disturbing to your mental health as a watching a friend get rich. We are not wired for this type of inequality;
• It really does take a village to raise a child, so include as many friends and family as possible;
• You’ll be happier if you work with your tribe to accomplish things together, work with purpose towards common goals, and feel connected with one another – challenge, camaraderie, and sense of mission should be your touchstones. This is why people are drawn to activities such as mountain climbing, for example; it hits on all these items and is very much in line with our tribal evolution;
• Through work, volunteering, teaching, writing, etc., try to get plugged into something bigger than yourself, and that helps lighten the load of others;
• Choose a career that is in line with your wiring and personality and is something you (mostly) enjoy. This will help alleviate the chronic work stress that is the natural outcome of a poor career fit;
• Choose a practical career, live well below your means, save and invest the difference, and strive for FI to help reduce the stress of money worries;
• Turn off your phone, t.v., computer and spend plenty of time walking, swimming, hiking, or playing outdoors.

We’re here in this modern world, of course, and there’s no going back. But we can all make structural changes that get us closer to how we’ve evolved to live, which will provide us some measure of contentment, joy, and peace of mind.