Why evolution led us to insurance: security in an unstable world

Throughout human history, humans have seen themselves as the masters of the universe — a species destined to dominate the natural world. Yet, this sense of mastery is quite recent in evolutionary terms.
It is only in the last 100,000 years that Homo sapiens have ascended to the apex of the food chain. This ascent has been remarkably rapid, especially compared to other apex predators like lions or sharks, who evolved gradually over millions of years.
In his bestselling book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Hariri explores the profound implications of this swift rise. When apex predators such as lions or sharks evolved over millennia, it allowed ecosystems to maintain a balance between predator and prey.
But humans took the evolutionary ‘escalator’ straight to the top floor. This climb was so sudden that, unlike creatures with long-established dominance, humans didn’t have time to develop the ingrained confidence that typically characterises dominant carnivores.
Assume someone who receives a job promotion way above their competence level or some ancient prince who claimed the throne by killing his male siblings. Power in the hands of the unprepared can be a recipe for disaster. This point is strikingly summed up in the Spiderman movies: ‘With great power comes great responsibility’.
Whilst majestic animals like lions, tigers, elephants, sharks and polar bears assume a languid demeanor and assured confidence, humans often exhibit underlying insecurity and concern.
This insecurity springs in large part from knowing that our dominance is fragile and can be overturned by Natural Disasters, Disease, Rival Species and perhaps Humanoids and Artificial Intelligence.
This pervasive sense of vulnerability fuels much of human activity. It propels testosterone-fuelled wars driven by rivalry and comparison. It drives the frantic race for status, wealth and influence. At a macro level, this influences how we govern, socialise, and organise economies and institutions. The anxiety that lies at the heart of human life is a constant reminder of the rapid evolutionary leap that placed Homo Sapiens on top of the ladder before we built the cognitive abilities to handle power sensibly.
In response to this profound insecurity, societies have created complex mechanisms to manage and mitigate risk. One of these mechanisms is insurance.
Insurance is humanity’s attempt to obtain a degree of security in a volatile environment.
By sharing the burden of misfortune collectively we hope to emerge undefeated from catastrophes. Each insurance policy is a contractual admission of the insecurity that plagues even the most powerful.
Insurance serves both psychological and financial purposes. Psychologically, it reduces anxiety. It allows people to act more boldly, take risk and invest in the future.
Financially, it spreads risk so that the burden of recovery is vastly reduced.
There is also an ethical dimension to insurance that must be considered. Humans bear the responsibility to wield power wisely, balancing ambition with sustainability.
If insurance simply drives us to accumulate power and pillage resources then it will lead to cycles of perpetual conflict. However it should be our intent to enable peace, stability, cooperation between races through insurance.
Understanding this interplay between evolution, insecurity and insurance is vital. As an industry professional it is also binding on people like us to create and distribute services that not only assist with economic development but also protect, replenish and conserve the resources of the planet. Our future as a species depends on it.