Is individualism for or against evolution?

Question from the Internet:

“Does individualism go against human evolution, since humans have evolved to be in groups and tribes?”

Evolution is a predetermined process, governed by the strict and unchanging laws of the natural system. There is nothing accidental or obsolete.

You are right about humans starting in tribes, groups, nations, and families. This is our “natural” side.

At the same time, human evolution is the chronicle of the ever-growing and ever-increasing human ego, which drives us toward selfishness and individualism.

Without this unique human ego, we would have remained exactly the same as other developed primates, living in the same place, within the same conditions. For example, chimpanzees or orangutans haven’t changed for millions of years, while we went through our incredible cultural, social, and technological development.

But, at the same time, this incredible driving force, the human ego, also made us behave like cancer in nature’s finely balanced and mutually integrated system. With our excessive overconsumption, with the ruthless competition where we succeed and survive at the expense of others and nature, we reached the threshold of self-destruction.

Humans have this unique duality between our “natural” and our “egocentric and selfish” sides. Our task is to recognize these two sides in us, resolve the seemingly unsolvable paradox and learn and practice how to complement one side with the other.

The human ego is impossible to suppress or erase. But we can learn and practice how to harness and channel the incredible driving power of the ego towards positive, constructive, and mutually beneficial goals and purpose. Then, instead of being the cancer-like enemies of each other and nature, we will become — together as a single humanity — nature’s conscious and benevolent partners the unique Human consciousness above the whole system.