We’ve Lost Touch With Being Human

And we’ve forgotten we’re all animals.

If you’re reading this, you’re clearly able to afford a phone, a house, some decent clothes, and time to read. Maybe your cat’s eating pretty expensive, too. But you know what else you can afford?

Comfort.

Comfort is nothing but a trap; like a Venus flytrap. If you get close enough, you’re caught forever.

Let’s think about this: for hundreds of thousands of years, all generations of humans before us have tried to make life a little easier to bear. Whatever they desired back in their days, we now have it. Even the things they couldn’t have possibly imagined, we own. Tenfold.

For all these centuries, we’ve all been contributing to our own downfall. Creating comfortable environments… or rather destroying environments on our way to comfort has allowed us to live so separated from nature that what was considered absolutely normal a hundred years ago is now batshit crazy.

People don’t allow their feet to touch the Earth. Fitness is nothing but a hobby. Cold exposure is something you see people do on TikTok and you skip it instantly because you think they do it for clout. The rain, which we need for our crops to grow, is considered bad weather.

WAKE. UP.

We are humans. We have evolved from animals that are now on display in zoos around the world, for other animals to see.

Do you know who’s also living in captivity? You.

You are being held hostage by your brain’s evolutionary blueprint — gluing your face to the TV, being a slave to your dopamine receptors, to your shoes, cigarettes, alcohol, phone, porn, scrolling, and so on. Humans have not yet adapted to the abundance of food they created — we eat everything like we never know when we’ll be able to satisfy hunger again. Your brain can’t comprehend the fact that you have unlimited access to comfort, so it’s trying its best to keep you hooked for as long as possible.

You are a prisoner of your own mind; an animal suffering from its own success (and not in a good way).

We have evolved so much we’re close to bombing ourselves back to the Stone Ages. And it’s not even the first time.

We’ve reached an evolutionary point in which everything we strive for is just caprice. Reaching and living on Mars to the detriment of Earth is like moving in your garage because you’re too lazy to clean up your room.

The problem is not that we’re making everything easier to do, achieve or receive, it’s that we’re ignoring our own nature and losing it in the process.

Don’t forget you’re an animal

We are all depressed. We spend huge amounts of money on therapy, alcohol, or drugs; we engage in shallow relationships through hook-up culture; we mindlessly consume whatever we have just to kill the time that’s going to kill us.

We need to numb ourselves because life’s too much sometimes. I know, I’m a human myself. But the answer to these problems is not that far-fetched.

Actually, I’ll just say it plain and simple: we need to go back to our roots. Not permanently, of course, but venturing into nature once in a while helps tremendously.

I don’t know about you, but I crave running around in forests, feeling the ground beneath my feet, breathing cold air in the morning, and taking the first steps into the sea every year. I can’t be the only one.

So many of the things we do are totally unnatural for our bodies, from the food we eat to the pills we take, to the information we ingest.

In the following paragraphs, I am going to present three methods for regaining touch with our human nature:

1. Cold exposure

We blame some of the problems we face today as humans on their own solutions. Cold exposure is one of the best examples.

I am one of the few people I know who can stand the cold pretty well. Actually, I enjoy it. I usually wear fewer clothes than everyone around me, and the only things I hear are:

Can’t wait to see you in hospitals at 40!

I was just like you and now look at me (five coats and three hats)!

I don’t know what to tell you, but I don’t think what you do is okay…

The story of my life. I can’t get mad, though, because I’m not the one who feels bad. I feel great — my cardiovascular system works like a charm, I never get sick and I can go running in winter with no fear.

The problem is not the cold, per se, but its absence. Our ancestors have evolved through the harshest winters of their lives with no ski equipment or fancy boots. They could only cover themselves up with animal fur. Hot showers? You must be joking.

Our bodies have evolved to push through these conditions by adapting to their environment. If you only expose your body to room temperature or cover it up with tens of layers of clothing every time you go out your cardiovascular system will have nothing to adapt to; the cold is going to feel like a shock.

Your body must be constantly exposed to lower temperatures in order to not lose its primal adaptation. The cold is not something we should fear, but we should embrace it. In moderate quantities, it is only going to help us live healthier lives. How?

• it regulates blood flow;
• strengthens the immune system;
• boosts your metabolism;
• reduces stress and anxiety.

If you don’t trust a word I’m saying, just look up Wim Hof and his book The Wim Hof Method. He dedicated his entire life to the cold, has been a constant guinea pig for scientists (because he wanted to), and did all of this to spread the word about the positive effects of cold exposure and breathing. His teachings may be the best medication our bodies will ever need. It’s not going to be easy, but no good thing is ever received without hard work.

2. Going barefoot

This is my favorite one — I have already written an article about it a month ago.

Leonard da Vinci said that the human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art, and he had good reasons: just imagine what kind of complex mechanism requires a quarter of your body’s bones in order to allow you to run, stand, jump, climb and sustain your bodyweight for all your life. There are people who can run hundreds of miles before their feet give up, and because we are animals of endurance, having strong and resilient feet may just be the difference between outrunning your predators or catching your prey.

Ah… but those were other times. Yet, we still have those feet. The only problem is that our masterpieces of engineering are born and raised in captivity.

Your feet are prisoners of comfort just like you are. The only thing they are now adapting to is the soles of your 200$ running shoes.

If evolution gave us these incredibly complex systems for feet, why do we need to cover them up with layers and layers of fabric? Why and when did we collectively agree to deny nature and replace it with products of capitalism?

Shoes have their own place in our lives, of course, but they are not necessary. If you’re now going to run barefoot just to prove me wrong, you would win, because your feet have become so dependent on their cages that simply walking on Earth would be their demise.

The only function shoes should have would be to protect our soles from the ground’s dangers, like glass, rocks, sharp objects, or other hazards. The fact that they try so hard to replace the natural function of our feet (by implementing support for arches, providing cushion, and limiting the area your toes can spread around) is outrageous.

Ever since I started going barefoot more often (especially when running), going for a jog has become therapy. There is a sublime sentiment you feel glimmering in your head when your feet touch the ground and your toes grip the Earth. I don’t know how to explain… it’s like we were Born to Run.

Try to take your shoes off more often. Set your feet free and let them exercise their basic function in a natural environment. There is no closer connection you can feel to nature than this, and it’s the cheapest therapy session you’ll ever have.

3. Move

Move, yeah! Move around, move your body, and put it to good use.

No animal in this world is born and evolves for the sole purpose of standing still, laying in an office chair eight hours a day, or spending infinite amounts of time on a couch watching cat videos. When you do this, your body’s adapting to your new environment by losing the functionality it no longer needs. In short: you become a vegetable.

In order to be able to perform as a human for longer than 20 years, you need to keep your body and mind in shape. You don’t even need to go to the gym for that — to develop strength the easy way, you need to constantly put your muscles to work. If you don’t have enough time to work out, try the Greasing the Groove method, coined by Pavel Tsatsouline: the concept involves constantly exercising your muscles throughout the day (for example, once every 2–3–4 hours) by doing light versions of movements.

Let’s say you can do ten pull-ups; you hop on the pull-up bar and do 4–5 pull-ups, then rest for the following 1–2 hours, then do it again. Repeat for the remainder of the day at the same rate. You will definitely notice an increase in your strength and your muscles will be getting their dose of constant effort with no sweat.

With so many distractions in this world, it’s hard to keep a healthy habit. Some people work so hard they get home and sleep right away, and you really can’t blame them. Going to the gym is going to demand time, effort, enough sleep, and a proper diet, but I am not talking about getting in shape now— far from it. I am only talking about preserving what’s already there — your muscles, your mobility, your vitality. You are an animal — animals move all the time. You’re not different. Just because you can afford to be a lazy couch potato, doesn’t mean you should.

There’s a quote I like, and I think it belongs here:

“You are born looking like your parents, but you die looking like your decisions.”

Unknown

We all have a duty towards the bodies we’ve been given. They are not replaceable, and they have to carry us for all the years we have left.

Your health is not negotiable — people try so hard nowadays to justify their laziness by inventing concepts like fatphobia, and blaming you for their own problems. Your heart doesn’t care about what goes down in your head or who’s to blame for the state you’re in — if the blood can’t flow, you’re f-ed.

Most of the problems we, humans, have created are caused by the fact that we believe we are separated from nature. We treat animals with no empathy and care little for their well-being, even though we share the same planet. Earth’s getting warmer because politicians are getting colder.

Remember that you are part of this world. A piece of this universe has been put inside a piece of this planet and now here’s you, in flesh and bones. Go back to the ways of nature and you’ll see how your daily human problems will become easier to bear.