Understanding human behavior

Human behaviour is really easy to understand.

At the very core, human nature boils down to two ideas:

1. We are wired for survival and replication. Which means inherently we are driven by self interest. We are wired for connection because being a part of a tribe ensures some level of survival. We compete for dominance because it increases our chance of replicating. This is the basis of most of our actions and effort in life. We want to be accepted, understood, loved, acknowledged, respected, influential, needed, appreciated, desired.
2. We are irrational creatures, rationalising. We have thoughts about the future and the past. We have plans and memories. We need them as a guide to decide how to behave and function in the present. We have ideas and beliefs about what reality is and should be. When there is discrepancy between what we think reality is and what the reality actually is, we bend our stories to explain the discrepancy. We need to feel like we are in control. We crave meanings. And thoughts are the most malleable and powerful thing that human possess.

Everything makes sense when seen through this lens. War, love, business, social status, bullying, the rat race, identity politics, social interaction, addiction. Everything.

But perhaps, I am just rationalising.