Part 2 of How the Hell Did We Get Here: Evolutionary Science of Why We Accept Systems That Hurt Us

This is Part Two of How the Hell Did We Get Here? And Can We Do Anything About It?Most people who defend systems that are hurting them aren't stupid. They aren't weak. They aren't uniquely susceptible to propaganda. They're human — and the human brain was wired, across hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, to accept existing power structures because challenging them was genuinely dangerous. It still is.This episode gets into the science. Social dominance orientation — the psychological tendency to accept hierarchy — has a measurable, heritable component. The average American scores a 2.98 out of 7. Most people aren't enthusiastic enforcers of the system. They're defaulters to it. And the conditions that shift that score aren't individual willpower. They're narrative. The stories absorbed about what work is, what success looks like, what you're worth.The question isn't how to break through the psychological immune system that defends existing beliefs. It's how to create conditions where people feel safe enough to lower it.Part Three is coming. If this is the conversation you've been needing to have, start here. thinkvoen.comSUBSCRIBE TO OUR SUBSTACK MAILING LIST:https://substack.com/@thestartlisteningpodcastThis episode was produced by Cat Fincun and VOEN Consulting. It was edited by Angelina Gurrola.