The Australian non-profit is reframing our perception of human behavior – and sparking debate about the future of our species.

Have you ever wondered why humans are such walking contradictions? We’re capable of soaring empathy, yet surrounded by deep and seemingly insoluble conflict. We create cathedrals and symphonies, but also wage wars and scorch the earth. This strange mix of brilliance and destructiveness has perplexed thinkers for millennia.

Now, a movement born in Sydney suggests that it has made significant progress in understanding this riddle. It’s called the World Transformation Movement, and at its heart is a theory from Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith. He suggests that he has uncovered a potential scientific explanation for our inner conflict – an answer to what he sees as our “human condition.” Supporters of his theory argue that this discovery may be a crucial step towards humanity’s future.

Leading scientists acknowledge some value in Griffith’s ideas: one is Professor Harry Prosen – a widely respected former President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and patron of the World Transformation Movement – who stated, “I have no doubt that this biological explanation of Jeremy Griffith’s of the human condition is one of the most insightful contributions we’ve seen for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race.”

The Two-Million-Year War Within

Griffith’s theory reframes established views on what drives our species’ psychological turmoil. Feelings of insecurity, defensiveness, egocentricity, and even rage are not necessarily signs of innate savagery or weak character, he says, but are instead the result of an ancient conflict between two powerful forces within us: our instincts and our intellect.

Around two million years ago, he says, when our ancestors became fully conscious, instinct and reason began to clash. Instincts, shaped by natural selection, couldn’t understand experimentation or choice – and so they effectively “resisted” our early reasoning minds for deviating from the norm. Conscious thought, feeling unjustly judged, reacted defensively.

Out of that ancient conflict, Griffith proposes, emerged many of the traits that have shaped humanity: anger, ego, alienation.

His analogy makes it clear: imagine a migrating bird suddenly consciously aware of its own choices. Its instincts demand it fly the same ancestral route. Consciousness urges it to try a new path. Each attempt meets resistance from the instincts. And so the bird grows defensive. That, says Griffith, is us – a species caught in a struggle between an ancient, deeply-entrenched program and the emerging mind.

Not Self-Help. Self-Understanding.

Griffith stresses that his work is not about willpower or a mindfulness technique, nor does it fit within the ‘self-help’ shelves; it’s about self-understanding at the deepest level of our being.

For him, the discovery is not that humans are a flawed species – rather, we’ve been fighting a psychological battle we could not comprehend. Without understanding, we had to “artificially” defend ourselves with anger, egocentricity, and alienated “block out.” But with better understanding, he explains, those defenses can be recognized, and through that recognition, possibly dismantled.

Griffith’s central book, FREEDOM: The End Of The Human Condition (one of many), lays out his case. By tracing the biology driving our psychology, Griffith suggests we can shift away from blaming ourselves – and each other – and start building from the truth that humans are, at their core, essentially good.

Academic Praise

Griffith’s ideas have drawn interest from respected voices across multiple fields, from psychology to biology to philosophy: 

• Dr Stuart Hurlbert, Professor Emeritus of biology at San Diego State University, said: “I am stunned and honored to have lived to see the coming of ‘Darwin II.’” 
• Professor David Chivers, a Cambridge University anthropologist and past president of the Primate Society of Great Britain, said: “‘The sequence of discussion in FREEDOM is so logical and sensible, providing the necessary breakthrough in the critical issue of needing to understand ourselves.” 
• Professor Scott Churchill, a former chair of psychology at the University of Dallas, said: “[FREEDOM is] The book all humans need to read for our collective wellbeing.”
• Professor Mihály Csikszentmihályi, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University, who first recognized the psychological concept of “flow”, said: “[Griffith’s work] might help bring about a paradigm shift in the self-image of humanity – an outcome that in the past only the great world religions have achieved.” 
• Professor Patricia Glazebrook, a former Chair of Philosophy at Dalhousie University, said: “Frankly, I am blown away by the ground-breaking significance of this work.” 

From Australia to the World

The World Transformation Movement is a not-for-profit organization founded to support research on the human condition and share Griffith’s theory.

With over 80 volunteer-run centers around the world and tens of thousands engaged in its online communities, the Movement’s supporters actively participate in conversations about how understanding the theory has changed their perspective on everything from personal issues to global crises.

And the appeal is understandable. In a time of unprecedented political polarization, escalating mental health crises, and constant social friction, the potential of an explanation – one that could redeem human behavior instead of condemning it – is both timely and important.

The Takeaway

Jeremy Griffith’s theory frames our darker impulses not as evidence of immorality but as collateral damage from the brain’s evolutionary upgrade. That perspective, if it gains traction, could influence how we design education, conflict resolution, therapy, even public policy. It positions humanity not as inherently broken, but as a species mid-transition – finally ready to complete its journey.

Whether Griffith will be remembered as a revolutionary thinker remains uncertain, but what is undeniable is the conversation his work has ignited.

For a world that often feels trapped in interminable cycles of division and despair, a hopeful biological narrative could be exactly what people are searching for.