Mark Ghuneim

In an age of technological complexity, global interdependence, and ideological polarization, humanity seems increasingly at odds with its own nature. The phrase “humans are having problems with humans being humans” captures a paradox that at its core lies the tension between the deeply rooted behavioral patterns shaped by evolution and the rapidly changing sociocultural environments we now live in.

Anthropology teaches us that human behavior is shaped by a combination of biological predispositions and cultural frameworks. For eons, humans survived in small, kin-based groups where cooperation, in-group loyalty, and face-to-face communication were vital.

Evolutionary legacies—such as tribalism, reciprocity, and even suspicion of the “other”—were adaptive in prehistoric contexts but often clash with the demands of modern, pluralistic societies. (Becasue internet), globalization, urbanization, and digital communication have expanded our social worlds beyond what our cognitive wiring can easily accommodate.  The result, many of the instincts that once ensured group survival now manifest as prejudice, xenophobia, and hyper-polarization.

Simultaneously, culture evolves faster than biology. (Just like technology and legislation and regulation) What we consider moral, rational, or acceptable shifts from one generation to the next, and from one culture to another. Yet this fluidity in Overton window is often perceived as instability or threat. They are different oh my!, oh my! 

Social media amplifies these tensions, exposing people to a flood of norms, identities, and values that may conflict with their own. The result is a widespread anxiety—both individual and collective—about what it means to be human in a world of accelerating change.

Add on top of all of this the emphasis on individualism and personal freedom can conflict with communal values that anthropologists observe in many traditional societies. The expectation that people should self-actualize, optimize, and constantly perform can feel dehumanizing, leading to alienation and resentment.

The Irony, it is often our efforts to rise above our basic human tendencies—toward bias, emotional reactivity, or mortality—that create friction and discontent.

Anthropology reminds us that to understand the “problem” of humans being humans, we must first accept that many behaviors we now critique—irrationality, conflict, identity-seeking—are not aberrations but base parts of our species story. They require management, not denial. The key may not lie in suppressing human tendencies, but in cultivating social systems that channel them constructively, respecting both our shared nature and our cultural differences.

Humans are struggling not because something has gone wrong, but because being human has always been errr.. complicated. The challenge is to build societies that can create space for the full spectrum of human behavior—messy, emotional, irrational, yet capable of empathy, adaptation, and meaning-making.