Long before modern psychologists attempted to categorise anxiety, trauma or alienation, writers, philosophers and biologists were already circling a more difficult and unsettling idea: that human beings may be psychologically divided against themselves. Across literature, science and philosophy there runs a recurring suspicion that consciousness – the very quality that allowed our species to create civilisation, language and art, our humanity – is also the reason for our profound inner conflict. It is this tension, between awareness and instinct, freedom and insecurity, that has driven generations of thinkers to grapple with the human condition and the origins of human suffering. 

South African naturalist and writer Eugène Marais was among the early modern thinkers to explore instinct, consciousness and behaviour through his pioneering observations of animals and human psychology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung later examined the role of the unconscious mind, archetypes and collective psychological patterns in shaping behaviour. 

German social psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm expanded these discussions further by analysing how modern society, freedom and social structures influence emotional wellbeing and alienation. Austrian psychoanalyst Otto Rank similarly explored the psychological consequences of individuality, separation and consciousness, particularly humanity’s deep struggle with identity, creativity and existential anxiety. 

In the 1970s, American psychologist Julian Jaynes introduced his controversial theory that human self-awareness emerged relatively recently in evolutionary history, arguing that consciousness itself may have developed through profound psychological shifts in early civilisation. 

More recently, writers such as Gabor Maté and Yuval Noah Harari have continued examining the psychological, biological and historical pressures shaping modern human behaviour. 

What unites many of these thinkers is a shared belief that humanity’s deepest problems cannot be understood purely through economics, politics or technology. Instead, they argue that consciousness must be explored as the cause of both creativity and conflict. 

Literature That Attempts to Explain Human Suffering 

This philosophical and psychological tradition continues today through books that seek to explain not merely how humans behave, but why we struggle emotionally and socially. Readers increasingly gravitate toward ambitious works that attempt to connect biology, psychology, history and morality into broader explanations of human behaviour. 

One modern contribution to this tradition is FREEDOM: The End Of The Human Condition by Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith, whose work is supported by the not-for-profit Fix The World (previously named the World Transformation Movement). The book presents Griffith’s overarching theory that the central source of human suffering emerged from a conflict between humanity’s instinctive inheritance and its conscious, reasoning mind. 

Fix The World argues that Jeremy Griffith’s explanation of the human condition gives a much-overdue understanding of destructive human behaviours not as evidence of a flawed species, but as the consequence of an unresolved psychological tension that developed during humanity’s evolutionary journey. 

For readers seeking thoughtful nonfiction, FREEDOM: The End Of The Human Condition offers an unusually expansive and philosophical reading experience. Rather than focusing on isolated psychological theories or self-help techniques, Griffith attempts to construct a comprehensive explanation for the origins of anger, anxiety, insecurity and division. 

The book weaves together evolutionary biology, anthropology, philosophy and psychology into an ambitious exploration of consciousness and civilisation. Griffith argues that when humans developed the capacity for fully conscious reasoning approximately two million years ago, the questioning and experimental nature of the intellect inevitably came into conflict with instinctive behavioural orientations shaped through natural selection. According to his theory, this tension between instinct and intellect created a profound psychological insecurity that gradually gave rise to the defensive behaviours of anger, egocentricity and alienation — behaviours he contends have underpinned much of the human suffering, conflict and social division seen throughout history. 

Readers familiar with thinkers such as Jung or Jaynes may recognise parallels in Griffith’s attempt to context human behaviour within a larger evolutionary and psychological narrative. Like those earlier writers, Griffith is less interested in treating individual symptoms than in explaining the origins of humanity’s internal struggle itself. 

One of the book’s strengths lies in its sincerity and scope. Griffith approaches his subject with clear conviction, repeatedly emphasising compassion rather than condemnation. Readers of the book often describe it as emotionally transformative because it attempts to remove shame from human imperfection by explaining destructive behaviours as explicable outcomes of an ancient psychological dilemma. 

At the same time, FREEDOM is not an easy or casual read. The book is lengthy, intellectually dense and repetitive in places, often revisiting core ideas from multiple perspectives. Some readers may find this structure challenging, particularly those expecting a more conventional popular science or psychology book. Others, however, appreciate the methodical repetition as part of Griffith’s effort to address a profoundly complex subject from every conceivable angle. 

Why Philosophical Works on Human Behaviour Resonate 

The relentless output of books exploring consciousness, meaning and emotional stress and conflict suggests that many readers remain dissatisfied with surface-level explanations of human behaviour. In a time where fast-moving media and fragmented online discourse dominates, books that tackle existential questions in-depth continue attracting audiences searching for intellectual and emotional substance. 

This appetite can be seen across multiple genres. Books on trauma, mindfulness, neuroscience, spirituality and evolutionary psychology frequently overlap in their attempts to explain why modern societies continue experiencing alienation and psychological distress despite technological progress. 

The Search for a Unifying Explanation 

One reason books like FREEDOM generate discussion is that they attempt something many modern works avoid: the search for a unifying explanation of the human condition itself. Rather than analysing isolated issues such as stress, addiction or social conflict separately, Griffith seeks to identify a deeper psychological mechanism underlying them all. 

The work reflects the continuing human desire to understand the origins of suffering in a coherent and meaningful way. This search has existed throughout literature, philosophy and science for generations, evolving through the writings of thinkers from Marais and Jung to Frankl, Jaynes and contemporary authors today. 

In that sense, FREEDOM: The End Of The Human Condition belongs to a long intellectual tradition of authors attempting to answer humanity’s oldest and most confronting questions. For readers interested in ambitious philosophical nonfiction that challenges conventional thinking, the book offers a provocative and deeply earnest contribution to ongoing discussions surrounding consciousness, morality and the future of human understanding.