The Instinctive Forces Shaping Our World
The world we live in today—its inequalities, environmental crises, technological wonders, and social tensions—is not random. It’s the sum of countless human choices, emotions, beliefs, and fears layered over time. Each of us, consciously or unconsciously, is part of that equation.
What forces are we contributing to?
A Present Convergence of Forces
We are riding a powerful current shaped by ancient instincts—our deep human drive for survival, belonging, status, and security.
Forces like economic inequality, environmental limits, technological acceleration, and social distrust aren’t enemies coming from outside. Instead, they’re reflections of our internal patterns magnified at scale.
Think of each major social trend like an iceberg. The Surface is the visible part we encounter daily: news headlines, statistics, and personal experiences. Just below the surface lies the Driver layer—the incentives, habits, and feedback loops such as policies, business models, and cultural norms that maintain these visible patterns. Dive even deeper, and you’ll reach the Root—ancient instincts and stories embedded in us, such as status-seeking, fear of scarcity, and the primal need for belonging, quietly powering everything above.
1 Inequality: “More” never feels enough
Surface Today, the top 1% hold more wealth than the bottom 95% combined, creating extreme economic disparity visible in everyday life.
Driver Our status-driven reward systems, such as bonuses linked to stock performance or social admiration tied to luxury brands, make accumulating wealth into a competitive scoreboard.
Root Deep in our brains, having surplus resources historically meant survival during difficult times, and losing status risked social exclusion and vulnerability.
2 Planet Stress: living like there’s a spare Earth
Surface We’ve already crossed six out of nine planetary boundaries, from climate change to biodiversity loss, signaling significant ecological stress.
Driver Short-term priorities, such as meeting the next quarter’s sales or delivering goods tomorrow, continually reinforce a system built on rapid extraction, consumption, and waste production.
Root This behavior stems from present-bias—our neurological wiring that naturally favors immediate comfort over future wellbeing.
3 Runaway Tech: faster than we can blink
Surface Computing power, especially for advanced artificial intelligence, now doubles roughly every five months, far outpacing our ability to keep up.
Driver The business landscape encourages fierce competitions—companies aim to be the “first to scale” to capture funding, media attention, and talented workers.
Root Underneath is a primal fear of falling behind, echoing our ancient past where the slowest group risked being conquered or left behind.
4 Governance Drift: when rules feel optional
Surface Globally, the average country scores only 43 out of 100 on corruption indices, and two-thirds of all countries fall below a basic threshold of trustworthiness.
Driver Opaque financial dealings and the widespread citizen belief that “nothing ever changes” feed into collective fatigue and apathy.
Root Our brains are wired to save energy by avoiding fights we think we can’t win, turning disengagement into a mental shortcut for survival.
5 Demographic Tides: older North, younger South
Surface Populations in wealthy countries will see the proportion of over-65s double to about one-third by 2050, while Africa contributes most of the world’s population growth.
Driver High living costs in affluent countries delay parenthood, and restrictive visa policies reshape global migration patterns, deciding who moves where.
Root At our core, sudden demographic shifts trigger fears of losing the familiar identities and stories we rely on to anchor ourselves socially and emotionally.
6 Learning Gap: unequal maps for the same maze
Surface After the pandemic, disadvantaged teenagers became seven times more likely to lack basic math skills compared to their peers, dramatically widening the educational gap.
Driver This divide is reinforced by schools funded through local wealth, expensive credentials acting as gatekeepers, and digital distractions disproportionately affecting those who lack strong support systems.
Root Our innate preference for familiarity and local communities means opportunities tend to cluster around those already advantaged, unintentionally leaving others behind.
7 Trust Erosion: shouting past each other
Surface Recent elections have widened gaps in trust between political groups by 30 points or more, leading to deeper polarization and misunderstanding.
Driver Social media algorithms reward outrage and extreme statements because they boost user engagement, while nuanced or moderate conversations rarely trend.
Root Historically, agreeing with our social group ensured belonging and safety, while disagreement risked exclusion and isolation.
8 Energy Habit: the comfort of the familiar flame
Surface Even though renewable energy now accounts for 32% of electricity production, fossil fuels still provide around 82% of the world’s total energy use.
Driver Existing infrastructure like oil rigs, gas-powered cars, and established subsidies maintain old habits. Choosing new, cleaner technologies can feel risky, inconvenient, or uncomfortable.
Root Our innate aversion to loss makes potential drawbacks appear much larger than equal-sized gains, compelling us to cling to familiar routines like petrol cars or traditional heating methods.
The Stakes We Don’t See
Like circus elephants tied to a small wooden stake, we may have accepted limits that no longer hold power over us. Even though we have the strength to break free, the memory of the rope keeps us standing still.
No one is forcing us to perpetuate systems that no longer serve human flourishing. Yet without questioning, we might continue anyway.
- Are these patterns still serving us—or are they asking to evolve?
- Where in our lives are we holding back—not because we must, but because we forgot to try?
- Can we imagine new ways of living better together? What does the world you want to help shape look like?