We romanticize the Stone Age as a simpler time, but its true advantage was one of scale. Their technology—a sharpened rock, a wooden spear—could only extend human reach so far. The true crisis of our time is not that humanity has degenerated, but that our tools have radically amplified our inherent nature. We have not progressed to barbarism; we have graduated to Baboonism, where primal instincts are projected with the power of gods.

The same ingenuity that once chipped flint now designs neural networks. This is the central paradox of progress: every technology that extends our capabilities amplifies both our humanity and our frailties.

For Better: The Extension of Our Highest Potentials
We have built a planetary nervous system. The internet allows collective problem-solving on a scale unimaginable a generation ago. A researcher can sequence a pathogen genome in hours and share it globally, accelerating vaccine development. Satellite imagery monitors deforestation in real time, extending our capacity for stewardship. Artificial intelligence can diagnose cancers with superhuman accuracy, becoming an extension of our compassion and our will to heal. These tools represent the zenith of human collaboration, curiosity, and care.

For Worse: The Amplification of Our Basest Instincts
Yet, the very same platforms that connect us also weaponize our tribal biases. Social media algorithms, designed to engage, often do so by amplifying outrage and division—extending the reach of a bully’s sneer to millions. A single individual, armed with digital propaganda, can sow distrust that erodes the foundations of democracy. Autonomous drones, the logical extension of the thrown spear, delegate the act of killing to an algorithm, sanitizing violence and distancing us from its moral weight. This is Baboonism: the primal politics of the troop, scaled to a civilization-ending potential.

The Stone Age was not more moral. It was merely less powerful. Our technologies have not changed our core nature; they have held up a mirror, revealing both our brilliance and our brutality in stark, unforgiving detail. The critical challenge of our epoch is not to slow the progress of our tools, but to accelerate the wisdom of our hands that guide them. For the first time in history, our reach truly exceeds our grasp. The question is no longer what we can build, but what we will become when we wield it.

About Author

Fay Niewiadomski

I awaken leaders to purposefully discern the best way forward, with such clarity, that they find within themselves the courage, wisdom, and compassion to do what they never dared to do before.

I’ve been privileged to work closely with C-level officers, presidents, ministers, global chairpersons, diplomats, board members, senior business and political leaders, and their teams to successfully navigate complex, high-stakes situations and make sound business and personal decisions resulting in profound and lasting change.

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