“Things critical to our survival like food, information, influence, possessions, time on earth, what we could do to feel good—and much more—were scarce, hard to find, and short-lived. The people who survived and passed on their genes chased more. They defaulted to overeating, amassing stuff and information, seeking influence over others and their environments, and pursuing pleasure and survival drives to excess. Obeying these evolutionary cravings kept us alive and still makes sense for all species. Except one. …
We now have an abundance—some might say an overload—of the things we’ve evolved to crave. Things like food (especially the salty, fatty, sugary variety), possessions (homes filled with online purchases), information (the internet), mood adjusters (drugs and entertainment), and influence (social media).
Yet we’re still programmed to think and act as if we don’t have enough. As if we’re still in those ancient times of scarcity. That three-pound bundle of nerves in our skull is always scanning the background, picking up and prioritizing scarcity cues and pushing us to consume more. …
The science shows that our scarcity brain doesn’t always make sense in our modern world of abundance. It now often works against us, and outside forces are exploiting it to influence our decisions. It’s at the root of the counterproductive behaviors we can’t seem to shake. The habits that put a hard brake on improving our physical and mental health, happiness, and ability to reach our full potential. Aren’t addiction, obesity, anxiety, chronic diseases, debt, environmental destruction, political dispute, war, and more all driven by our craving for… more?
... The people I met on my journey are asking the more profound and challenging questions. But their efforts are revealing the answers that work. They’ve found that permanent change and lasting satisfaction lie in finding enough. Not too much. Not too little. Some have even flipped the scarcity loop into an ‘abundance loop,’ using the loop to do more of what helps us.”
~ Michael Easter from Scarcity Brain
Michael Easter is a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He’s also a GREAT writer. I LOVED (!) his first book The Comfort Crisis (check out those Notes) so when Alexandra got this book, I was fired up to read it. It’s *also* fantastic. (Get a copy here.)
As per the inside flap: “Our world is overloaded with everything we’re built to crave. The fix for scarcity brain isn’t to blindly aim for less. It’s to understand why we crave more in the first place, shake our worst habits, and use what we already have better. Then we can experience life in a new way—a more satisfying way.”
As you’d expect, the book is PACKED with Big Ideas on how to go about taming our scarcity brain so we can craft that more satisfying life. I’m excited to share some of my favorites, so let’s jump straight in!
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