Why You Always Want More, And How To Fix It | Michael Easter
This episode features journalist Michael Easter, author of Scarcity Brain and The Comfort Crisis, discussing how ancient human wiring for insatiability clashes with modern abundance. He explains the "scarcity loop" and offers tactical ways to unhook from bad habits by embracing discomfort and finding meaningful stimulation.
Deep Dive Analysis
18 Topic Outline
Introduction to Human Insatiability and Michael Easter's Work
Evolutionary Roots of Overconsumption and Modern Mismatch
Understanding Scarcity Mindset vs. Abundance Mindset
The Concept of Prevalence-Induced Concept Change
The Scarcity Loop: Opportunity, Unpredictable Rewards, Quick Repeatability
Time Scarcity and its Connection to the Scarcity Loop
Applying the Scarcity Loop for Positive Behavior: The Pokemon Go Example
Practical Strategies for Managing Habits and Cravings
The Pigeon Cage Experiment and Optimal Stimulation Theory
Expanding Your 'Pigeon Cage' for Meaningful Life Stimulation
Lessons on Happiness from Benedictine Monks
The Comfort Crisis: Thesis and Impact of Modern Comfort
Intolerance for Discomfort and its Link to Anxiety and Health Issues
Embracing Short-Term Discomfort for Long-Term Benefits (The 2%er Mentality)
Personal Practices: Leaning into Boredom and Spending Time Outdoors
The Three-Day Effect of Backcountry Nature
The Impact of Silence in a Loud Modern World
A Nuanced Approach to Embracing Discomfort and Human Capability
7 Key Concepts
Scarcity Brain
This concept describes how humans evolved to overdo things like food, possessions, status, and information due to past scarcity, and these ancient genes still push us towards 'more' in a world of modern abundance.
Mismatch
An anthropological term referring to the conflict between our ancient evolutionary wiring (e.g., for insatiability) and the realities of modern life, where such wiring no longer serves our well-being.
Prevalence-Induced Concept Change
This theory states that as humans experience fewer real problems, they don't become more satisfied; instead, they lower their threshold for what they consider a problem, leading to a constant perceived number of troubles, even if they are more 'hollow'.
Scarcity Loop
A three-part system (opportunity, unpredictable rewards, quick repeatability) that effectively hooks humans and animals on certain behaviors. It's engineered into things like slot machines, social media, online shopping, and dating apps to drive repeated engagement.
Optimal Stimulation Theory
This theory suggests that all animals, including humans, require a certain amount of stimulation in their lives to thrive. If this natural stimulation is lacking (e.g., from an overly comfortable or sterile environment), individuals will seek it elsewhere, sometimes through less productive or addictive behaviors.
The Comfort Crisis
The basic thesis is that as the world has become increasingly comfortable, humans have lost many fundamental evolutionary discomforts (like hunger, physical activity, or exposure to nature) that are crucial for maintaining happiness and health, leading to new problems.
Three-Day Effect
This concept describes the phenomenon where after spending at least three days in backcountry nature, completely off-grid and without digital devices, individuals experience a significant calming effect, entering a more meditative state with clearer thoughts.
12 Questions Answered
Humans evolved in environments where survival necessities were scarce, leading to a wiring that encourages overdoing things like food, possessions, status, and information, which now mismatches with modern abundance.
The scarcity mindset, characterized by anxiety and a focus on not having enough, is deeply wired into us from a million years ago when hyper-focusing on the next needed thing was crucial for survival.
Due to 'prevalence-induced concept change,' as real problems diminish over time, we tend to lower our threshold for what we consider a problem, leading to a constant perception of troubles, even if they are less severe.
The scarcity loop is a three-part system (opportunity, unpredictable rewards, quick repeatability) that hooks individuals on behaviors, as seen in slot machines, social media, and dating apps, by creating a compelling cycle of seeking and occasional reward.
Yes, by intentionally designing activities that incorporate the scarcity loop's elements (opportunity, unpredictable rewards, quick repeatability) to encourage beneficial behaviors, such as getting people outdoors and physically active, as exemplified by Pokemon Go.
By identifying the scarcity loop in a problematic behavior and then altering any of its three parts: reducing opportunity (e.g., removing tempting items), or reducing the speed and quick repeatability (e.g., introducing a pause before engaging in the behavior).
According to optimal stimulation theory, if humans lack sufficient natural stimulation from their environment (e.g., from outdoor activity, social interaction, physical challenge), they will seek it elsewhere, sometimes through less productive or even harmful behaviors like excessive social media use.
The core idea is that modern life's increasing comfort has stripped away fundamental evolutionary discomforts (like hunger, physical activity, and exposure to nature) that are essential for human happiness and health, leading to new societal problems.
An inability to tolerate discomfort is a significant factor in the anxiety epidemic and other health problems, as people avoid beneficial challenges and seek easy escapes, often at the expense of long-term well-being.
The '2%er' mentality involves consciously choosing slightly harder options throughout the day (e.g., taking the stairs instead of an escalator), understanding that these small, consistent acts of embracing discomfort accumulate into significant long-term health and happiness benefits.
Spending time in nature, especially at least three days in backcountry settings, can lead to a profound calming effect, clearer thoughts, and a more meditative state, as described by the 'three-day effect'.
The increased loudness of the modern world acts as a constant stressor, contributing to higher stress levels, reduced focus, and potentially negative cardiovascular health effects, often without people consciously realizing its impact.
18 Actionable Insights
1. Expand Your Pigeon Cage
Actively seek out more meaningful and life-giving stimulation, such as engaging in hobbies, creative pursuits, spending time outdoors, physical activity, and social interaction, to reduce the subconscious need to seek unproductive stimulation from addictive behaviors.
2. Embrace Short-Term Discomfort
Adopt a ‘2%er’ mindset by consciously choosing small, short-term discomforts (e.g., taking the stairs instead of an escalator) to accumulate long-term health and growth benefits, as humans are wired to choose the easiest path even when it’s against their long-term interest.
3. Unplug from the Scarcity Loop
To reduce unwanted behaviors, identify which parts of the scarcity loop (opportunity, unpredictable rewards, quick repeatability) are at play in your bad habits, and strategically alter one or more of these components to lessen the behavior’s frequency.
4. Lean Into Boredom
When boredom arises, resist the urge to immediately reach for digital devices; instead, sit with the feeling and use it as an opportunity for mind-wandering, creative thinking, or a device-free walk, as boredom can be a catalyst for new ideas.
5. Spend Time in Nature
Regularly spend time in nature, even short walks, to reduce stress and improve mental health. Consider longer, off-grid stints (at least three days) for deeper calming, clarity, and a meditative state, known as the ’three-day effect’.
6. Undertake Annual Challenges
Undertake a significant, challenging experience (e.g., a long retreat, an expedition) at least once a year to foster ‘psychic change,’ realize your capabilities, and gain a new perspective on yourself, mirroring ancient rites of passage.
7. Use Scarcity Loop for Good
Design or seek out activities and products that leverage the scarcity loop (opportunity, unpredictable rewards, quick repeatability) to encourage beneficial behaviors like physical activity, time outdoors, and social interaction, as exemplified by Pokemon Go.
8. Tactical Unhooking: Add Pause
Introduce friction or a pause into behaviors you want to reduce (e.g., use an app like ClearSpace for social media, or implement a 72-hour waiting period for online purchases) to break the quick repeatability aspect of the scarcity loop and encourage intentionality.
9. Tactical Unhooking: Reduce Opportunity
Remove temptations from your environment to reduce the opportunity for engaging in unwanted behaviors, such as not keeping unhealthy foods like Oreos in your house if you have a problem with overconsumption.
10. Prioritize Nixing Bad Habits
Focus on eliminating detrimental habits first, as this can be more impactful than trying to add new positive habits, because bad habits act like a ‘foot on the brake’ preventing progress.
11. Increase Daily Physical Movement
Integrate more non-exercise physical activity into your daily routine, such as parking further away, taking stairs, or pacing during phone calls, to improve health and burn significantly more calories throughout the day.
12. Have Hard Conversations
Be willing to initiate and engage in difficult conversations with loved ones rather than avoiding them, as this can prevent long-term issues from festering and foster healthier relationships.
13. Embrace Silence
Seek out periods of silence in your daily life to reduce stress, improve focus, and enhance the quality of your work, recognizing that modern environments are often excessively loud and can negatively impact well-being.
14. Practice Self-Introspection
Engage in regular self-introspection to understand your motivations and behaviors, even if it’s challenging, as it is a valuable effort for personal growth and making better decisions.
15. Recognize Over-Capability
Acknowledge your inherent capability, even when feeling under-confident, and be willing to take difficult steps, trusting that you will adapt and succeed, as humans are often more capable than they think.
16. Understand the Scarcity Loop
Familiarize yourself with the three-part scarcity loop (opportunity, unpredictable rewards, quick repeatability) to understand why humans get hooked on certain behaviors, which is the first step in consciously altering your interaction with them.
17. Understand Prevalence-Induced Concept Change
Recognize that as life improves and problems decrease, humans tend to lower their threshold for what they consider a problem, leading to constant dissatisfaction; this awareness can help foster greater appreciation and reduce unnecessary anxiety.
18. Access Guided Meditations & Q&A
Sign up for paying subscriptions at danharris.com to access custom guided meditations, including one on decreasing resistance to life’s events, and participate in weekly live meditation and Q&A sessions.
7 Key Quotes
As humans experience fewer and fewer problems, we don't actually become more satisfied. We basically just lower our threshold for what we consider a problem.
Michael Easter
The big picture is that I think that kind of clouds our judgment in ways and also makes us not as appreciative about how incredible it is to be alive right now. Like it is by far the best time to be alive.
Michael Easter
If you're looking for any reward in meditation, if you're looking for anything, you won't get it. I mean, desire is the first hindrance, the Buddha and his followers have been talking about this for 2600 years.
Dan Harris
Nixing your worst habits is a lot more powerful than adding good new habits, right? Bad habits are like a foot on the brake.
Michael Easter
Happiness is a very murky construct. And what ultimately, I think helps people's happiness is doing things that are challenging, that have a bigger reward in the long run, I think getting out of ourselves.
Michael Easter
The world is generally set up that we can choose short term comfort, but that is at the expense of long term growth of health of happiness.
Michael Easter
Humans evolved to be under confident yet over capable. And we only realize that we are capable if we're willing to take that hard step and just put our foot forward and realize that like the ground's going to appear under you.
Michael Easter
1 Protocols
Un-hooking from the Scarcity Loop
Michael Easter- Identify a specific behavior that is holding you back and recognize if it falls into the scarcity loop (opportunity, unpredictable rewards, quick repeatability).
- Change the 'opportunity' to engage in the behavior; for example, remove tempting items like Oreos from your house if you have an eating problem.
- Reduce the 'speed' or 'quick repeatability' of the behavior; for example, use an app like ClearSpace to introduce a pause and intentionality before opening frequently used apps, or implement a 72-hour waiting period before online purchases.