--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With our Paleolithic instincts, we're…" description: "\"With our Paleolithic instincts, we're simply unable to resist technology's gifts. But this doesn't just compromise our privacy. It also compromises our..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/tristan-harris-15820_action_with-our-paleolithic-instincts-we-re-sim_1467323.jpg" --- # With our Paleolithic instincts, we're simply unable to… ![“With our Paleolithic instincts, we're simply unable to resist technology's gifts. But this doesn't just compromise our privacy. It also compromises our ability to take collective action.” quote by Tristan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/tristan-harris-15820_action_with-our-paleolithic-instincts-we-re-sim_1467323.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/tristan-harris-15820_action_with-our-paleolithic-instincts-we-re-sim_1467323.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/tristan-harris-15820_action_with-our-paleolithic-instincts-we-re-sim_1467323.jpg) > “With our Paleolithic instincts, we're simply unable to resist technology's gifts. But this doesn't just compromise our privacy. It also compromises our ability to take collective action.” [Tristan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristan-harris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our ancient instincts make us vulnerable to technology, eroding privacy and collective action ability. **In simple terms:** Instincts make us give in to tech, hurting privacy and teamwork. Key Takeaway Guard privacy and foster community. Themes privacy collective action technology instincts Mood concerned reflective Type cautionary analytical When to use this quote - online activism - community organizing - digital literacy - policy advocacy Key Concepts behavioral economics social media surveillance Questions to Reflect On - How can we redesign tech to support group goals? - What privacy measures protect collective power? A Different Perspective Technology can also empower collective action if used responsibly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Collective action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collective-action/) [Compromise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromise/) [Compromise Privacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromise-privacy-5315781/) [Cybersecurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cybersecurity/) [Paleolithic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paleolithic-1727892/) [Paleolithic Instincts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paleolithic-instincts-5315779/) [Privacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privacy/) [Privacy Compromises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privacy-compromises-5315780/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [The Paleolithic hunters who painted the unsurpassed animal murals on the ceiling of the cave at Altamira had only rudimentary tools. Art is older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-paleolithic-hunters-who-painted-the-unsurpassed-animal-murals-on/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“The obvious question is, what are the “conditions to which presumably we are genetically adapted”? As it turns out, what Donaldson assumed in 1919…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-taubes/the-obvious-question-is-what-are-the-conditions-to-which-presumably/) [Gary Taubes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-taubes/) > [Sad but true: individual intelligence probably peaked in the Upper Paleolithic, and we have been self-domesticated creatures ever since](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sad-but-true-individual-intelligence-probably-peaked-in-the-upper/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Clothes—a Paleolithic thing? Glasses? And a phone. The list is tiny. In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-merchant/clothes-a-paleolithic-thing-glasses-and-a-phone-the-list-is-tiny-in/) [Brian Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-merchant/) > [When you are fed up with the troublesome present, you take your gun, whistle for your dog, go out to the mountain, and, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/when-you-are-fed-up-with-the-troublesome-present-you-take-your-gun/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“Our bones are more gracile than those of our Upper Paleolithic ancestors, our personalities less aggressive, our societies more trusting and cohesive. An element…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/our-bones-are-more-gracile-than-those-of-our-upper-paleolithic/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [We've got paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/we-ve-got-paleolithic-emotions-medieval-institutions-and-god-like/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The original Upper Paleolithic people would, if they appeared among us today, be called Caucasoid, in the sense that they lacked the particular traits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-cattell/the-original-upper-paleolithic-people-would-if-they-appeared-among-us/) [Raymond Cattell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-cattell/) > [The people from where I grew up have no appreciation for Paleolithic rocks or menstrual calendars. I'm a retriever of lost iconographies. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolee-schneemann/the-people-from-where-i-grew-up-have-no-appreciation-for-paleolithic/) [Carolee Schneemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolee-schneemann/) > [Perhaps I shall not write my account of the Paleolithic at all, but make a film of it. A silent film at that, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/perhaps-i-shall-not-write-my-account-of-the-paleolithic-at-all-but/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [When I try to outline the history of ethical life, it's sometimes possible to find evidence for a hypothesis about how important transitions actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/when-i-try-to-outline-the-history-of-ethical-life-it-s-sometimes/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [If you look at Paleolithic cave paintings, you see how people were depicted inside nature, not outside it. It was a kind of dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-colbert/if-you-look-at-paleolithic-cave-paintings-you-see-how-people-were/) [Gregory Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-colbert/) > [We have all this Paleolithic art that suggests that our ancestors really venerated animals and that they depended on wild animals to survive -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/we-have-all-this-paleolithic-art-that-suggests-that-our-ancestors/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“Markets do not automatically generate trust, cooperation or collective action for the common good. Quite the contrary: it is in the nature of economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/markets-do-not-automatically-generate-trust-cooperation-or-collective/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More by Tristan Harris > [Traditional companies have been subject to licensing for many years. Attention utilities should be required to obey limits on data extraction and message amplification…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristan-harris/traditional-companies-have-been-subject-to-licensing-for-many-years/) [Tristan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristan-harris/) > [Magicians start by looking for blind spots, edges, vulnerabilities and limits of people's perception, so they can influence what people do without them even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristan-harris/magicians-start-by-looking-for-blind-spots-edges-vulnerabilities-and/) [Tristan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristan-harris/) > [Our online news feeds aggregate all of the world's pain and cruelty, dragging our brains into a kind of learned helplessness. 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It's possibly the largest source of influence over 2 billion people's thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristan-harris/technology-steers-what-2-billion-people-are-thinking-and-believing/) [Tristan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristan-harris/) > [You're either on, and you're connected and distracted all the time, or you're off, but then you're wondering, am I missing something important? In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristan-harris/you-re-either-on-and-you-re-connected-and-distracted-all-the-time-or/) [Tristan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristan-harris/) > [Tech companies are distracting, dividing and outraging citizens to the point where there is little basis for common ground. 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They will always fight for more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristan-harris/apps-or-media-who-make-money-on-advertising-are-never-satisfied-with/) [Tristan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristan-harris/) > [I'm an expert on how technology hijacks our psychological vulnerabilities. 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