Walking across the Manhattan Bridge, I saw a lot of graffiti. It looked to me like it was painted by boys or young men, likely making a statement vaguely like lashing out. I’m not sure, but it didn’t look like it was designed to make the place feel safer or more secure.

I thought about how many boys and young men feel motivated to show their independence and probably have since before our ancestors became human hundreds of thousands of years ago. Back then they couldn’t spray toxic chemicals. They probably would have done things to show their independence without some equivalent of defacing public property.

It got me thinking how we’ve created a world where behaviors resulting from our natural motivations become antisocial despite their having evolved most likely to help groups. I thought about how acting out in ways that devalued the commons like spray painting public property in prehistoric times probably would have resulted in rebuke from the rest of one’s community. More likely it wouldn’t have happened.

Nature may be abundant but it likely would have made such antisocial behavior impossible.

Nature’s built-in discipline

In our ancestors’ world of, say, 200,000 years ago, would have kept tribes disciplined in ways like the following:

Boys acting out as the spray painters did, likely in secret under cover of night, would risk being eaten by predators.

People becoming obese would risk being eaten by predators.

People becoming addicted to where they didn’t take care of themselves and distanced themselves from friends and family risked being eaten by predators.

People who were undisciplined to where they didn’t collect food and water daily would starve.

Meanwhile, people who were infirm or disabled from old age would probably have been helped.

People who were antisocial would risk being rejected by the group and being eaten by predators.

People with valuable skills would have been valued and kept safe.

People who were dishonest, untrustworthy, mean, or poor teammates would risk being rejected from the group and being eaten by predators.

Today, people seem to regard suggestions to be social, physically fit, and not addicted as impositions or maybe related to privilege. Yet unless I miss my mark, such traits were automatic parts of life. I imagine people and cultures lived happier, safer, more secure lives with more social cohesion and mutual support. No one would have been mean, nor would nature have been less abundant and safe, but people would have enjoyed life more.

I don’t have data to back me up. I’m just speculating based on the direction living more sustainability has led me.

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