To be fair, if you believe in evolution, thinking of things in terms of improvement is very subjective. Evolution isn't selecting for improvement, it's selecting for survival, which may or may not be correlated with your vision of improvement. Think of cockroaches.

From a christian perspective, the natural discontent stems from the fallen nature of man. You're worldly accomplishments will never be able to satisfy that discontentment, as the two areas are unrelated.

So many straw men here...

Nobody is saying that evolution is selecting for some nebulous sense of "improvement." Reproductive success leads to traits being passed on to successive generations, and general survival is merely one precondition to reproduction. The human impulse to jockey for status is a reproductive strategy.

I really don't get this. Why do people strive to get richer??

I've chose startup grind instead of super rich Facebook jobs 3 years ago and am still living like a student and see no need to own a lot of things. Am I that "special", to me it seems completely logical to sacrifice short term rewards to be in for the long run, delayed gratification and everything.

Once I've made it, I don't see either, why I would burn myself just to have e.g. $20M instead of $10M. wtf?

That line sounds nice, but I don't think it makes sense if you break it down. You are basically saying that discontent people reproduce more than content people. Is there any evidence of that?

Historically, do you doubt that this is true? Certainly it isn't in modern times, but when we were shaped as a species? The people who worried about having enough food, a strong enough shelter, sharp enough weapons, loyal enough friends and allies-- seems like that worry would be a survival trait.

> Certainly it isn't in modern times, but when we were shaped as a species?

When discussing evolution and species, it's best to avoid the past tense. Evolution never ends, and nature is shaping us as we speak. 200,000 years ago, we wouldn't have recognized our forebears, and 200,000 years from now, we won't recognize our descendants.

Basically yes. It is a giant assumption with no actual science backing it up. Maybe there is some science that I am not aware of. So many evolutionary statements get a free pass in this regard. Someone says it, and now it is so. Where is the skepticism?

I think he's saying that content people lie around sunning themselves and get eaten by lions, or fail to store food for the winter, or whatever.

I love that first line. In my opinion it neatly sums up a few things about human behaviour.