Repurpose your ancient tomorrow mind

I bought this book based on the first word. “TomorrowMind: Thrive at Work with Resilience, Creativity and Connection, Now and in an Uncertain Future”. A tomorrow mind?

Our minds are not fit for purpose

The book starts by explaining that our mind, which evolved over millions of years, is not suitable for the world we are currently living in. We are still fundamentally hunters, foragers and gatherers. For 95% of our history, Homo sapiens relied on hunting, gathering, and fishing to survive.A forager’s brain is suited to a five-hour workday, communal life, the creative exploration of new terrain, and an ever-present connection to nature. Farming, the industrial revolution, urbanisation, technology 4.0, and social media are a complete mismatch. In other words, starting with the Agricultural Revolution, our brains were no longer designed for our work.

We are suffering

From quick fear (tiger!) to ongoing anxiety. From prospection to a human-robot in a system, labour enforced by machines, from generalist to specialist, from wandering to staying put, and that is before we start talking about nutrition, physical health, etc. Our brains were not built to cope with factory life; they were built to cope with predators, storms, and tribal arguments. Our bodies were not built to be a cog in a machine; they were designed to wander, gather, hunt, and chitchat. As a result, we are suffering as humans.

We need a reset

As a result of the suffering, we have, at the moment, mental and physical health crises. There is a need for a reset. A different approach to mental health, such as positive psychology, stoicism, savouring and the wisdom of a life well lived. Life is about meaning, happiness, love, connection, and flow. If you read “The Body: A Guide for Occupants”, you realise what an awesome piece of design you are that needs to be taken care of. Exercise, do yoga, meditate, etc. “A healthy mind in a healthy body” was not invented for nothing.

It will get worse

It is getting worse. ReadIt is not the case that we will experience a hundred years of progress in the twenty-first century. Instead, we will witness the order of twenty thousand years of progress. World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025…