The Hidden Brain Glitch That Saved Our Ancestors
And Is Quietly Tearing the World Apart Today
Imagine two groups of ancient hunters on the savanna. One group shares food freely, trusts deeply, and fights as one. The other is fractured by suspicion, hoarding, and a "every man for himself" mentality.
Which survives the next famine, raid, or predator attack?
The cooperative tribe, every time.
This is not speculation. It is the invisible force that shaped human morality over hundreds of thousands of years. Our brains evolved a powerful tribal glitch: fierce loyalty to “us,” automatic suspicion of “them.”
It was genius for survival in small bands of 150 people or fewer.
But today, that same glitch fuels everything from office politics to global conflicts. It whispers that the stranger is a threat, that a different opinion is dangerous, and that distant suffering is not our problem.
In a recent conversation on Passion Struck, I explored this glitch with two brilliant minds who have spent decades decoding it: Harvard’s Joshua Greene, author of Moral Tribes, and psychologist Rick Hanson, New York Times bestselling author and expert in mindfulness, resilience, and positive neuroplasticity.
What they revealed is not just fascinating. It is a roadmap for hacking the glitch that once saved us and now risks undoing us.
The Glitch in Action: Why Your Brain Sees Threats You Do Not Even Notice
Greene paints the big picture like a detective uncovering the crime scene of evolution.
Life thrives on cooperation and competition. Cells team up to form bodies. Humans team up to form tribes. Tribes compete for food, land, and mates. Morality is the secret sauce of cooperation: empathy for your group, fairness within it, loyalty that binds.
Here is the twist. Teamwork became the ultimate weapon. Tribes that cooperated better did not just thrive. They dominated.
Rick Hanson zooms in on what this looks like inside your skull.
We are walking museums of evolution. Your brain carries code from predators on the savanna: a negativity bias that spots threats faster than opportunities.
In experiments, researchers flash an angry face for 1/20th of a second, too quickly for it to be consciously registered. People say they saw nothing. But their heart races, the amygdala fires, and the body braces for fight or flight.
Now flash a friendly face. Calm descends.
Perceived support from “us” settles the nervous system with better health, performance, and less risk-taking across cultures. Dehumanize “them”? It opens the slippery slope to indifference, then cruelty.
I felt this growing up: the shy kid terrified of exclusion, aching for belonging while fearing the out-group alphas.
Sound familiar?
The Modern Mismatch: Tribal Brains in a Global Village
Greene calls it the tragedy of commonsense morality. Our moral machinery works beautifully inside the tribe. Between tribes? Disaster.
History proves it: wars, genocides, and slavery were once morally justified because “they” were not fully human. Yet we have expanded before. Women’s rights, civil rights, animal welfare. Circles once tiny, now vast. How? Not by erasing the glitch, but overriding it with reason, shared stories, and institutions.
Dr. Rick Hanson adds the rewiring tools: compassion practices that open the heart, calm threat systems, and build an identity rooted in lovingness. Compassion circles create spaces to feel our interconnectedness. Ripples spread person to person.
The Surprising Power of Cash: A Real-World Hack That Multiplies Compassion
The conversation tied theory to action through Pods Fight Poverty, an initiative uniting podcasters to support GiveDirectly ’s cash transfers in Rwanda. Greene breaks down why it works. Recipients are not helpless. They know their needs: fix the roof, buy a motorcycle for trade, start a business.
Evidence shows every dollar multiplies 2.5x in the local economy. Dignity restored, agency unleashed. With 50% matching funds while available, impact amplifies: givedirectly.org/passionstruck
This is moral circle expansion in motion. It turns distant “them” into shared “us.”
When Problems Feel Overwhelming: Why Your Small Act Still Changes Everything
A question from Victor in Nigeria cut deep. In a world of massive suffering, does ordinary compassion matter?
Hanson’s response:
It touches those near you. Seconds of truly seeing someone transform them.
It transforms you. It opens the heart, illuminates the mind, and purifies the identity.
It ripples outward. Pro-social acts spread through networks.
We cannot control the world. But, as Viktor Frankl knew in the camps, we control our response: cold indifference or warm heart?
That is our deepest freedom.
The Question Burning in Me Now
That ancient tribal glitch saved our species. Today, in echo chambers and endless feeds, it is amplified. We trade broad humanity for narrow tribes. But we are not trapped. Science shows we can hack it: expand empathy, practice compassion, act across divides.
What “us vs. them” glitch is still running quietly in your life, team rivalries, political silos, indifference to distant pain?
And what one step will you take today to widen your circle?
The savanna is gone. The global village is here.
Time to update the code.
Listen to the full episode:
Also, I highly suggest you download the completely FREE Digital Workbook that will teach you how to hack the tribal brain and expand the moral circle.
What tribe are you ready to outgrow?
Well done, John! This is excellent work with important input from some very knowledgeable guests. I hope that messages like yours here can continue to spread faster than the current paranoid, conspiracy-brained victimhood complex that’s currently overtaking the American psyche. This is essential work.