You’ve hit the nail on the head, I think. We evolved in close-knit family units and groups over hundreds of generations. There are downsides to that form of ex

You’ve hit the nail on the head, I think. We evolved in close-knit family units and groups over hundreds of generations. There are downsides to that form of existence. It is not optimal for extracting maximum contributions to society from every individual. Our current social configuration seems to optimize for maximum “extraction” of social contribution from individuals. But it follows some dark patterns: unless you’re fabulously wealthy, your contributions are generally opt-out instead of opt-in, and it coerces people into settling for local maxima (flipping burgers instead of writing code, writing code instead of research, research instead of etc.) I also agree that the impersonal nature of this configuration is disturbingly dissociative, and it’s sad that the only antidotes are (1) work harder, so you have less time to think (2) opt-out.