It Wasn’t Complicated… Until My Brain Got Involved

Shah Rukh Khan once joked, “It’s easy to quit smoking—I do it 100 times a day. The only problem? I also continue it 100 times all over again. ”That, my friends, is the human brain in a nutshell. It can start anything, stop anything, and then restart it with equal enthusiasm. What it cannot do—at least not easily—is sit still in silence, mind its own business, and remain peaceful.

My own brain behaves the same way. It’s like a hyperactive school kid on a sugar rush—running from one idea to another, jumping on every trampoline of thought, and creating a mess before the teacher (in this case, me) can even enter the classroom. Ask it to stay calm and meditate for just five minutes, and it reacts as if I’ve assigned it the job of solving quantum mechanics while riding a bicycle blindfolded.

And yet, here’s the irony: the human brain is supposed to be simple. It has a clear, straightforward operating manual—keep the body alive, get food, find shelter, connect with others, and maybe reproduce to keep the species going. That’s all. Simple enough, right? But then came humans—with their free will, their imaginations, and their endless curiosity—and turned this Zen-like survival machine into a 24/7 reality TV show.

Take me, for example. I’ve spent years fascinated by how the mind works, not just as a banker or a writer but as someone who wants to figure out why our thoughts behave like overexcited puppies. This journey eventually shaped MindFlow—my exploration into understanding, training, and streamlining the mind. But the starting point wasn’t some profound enlightenment under a banyan tree. It was more like… everyday moments where I realized how ridiculously complicated we make simple things.

For instance: deciding what to eat. The stomach sends a simple message: “I’m hungry.” But the brain—oh no, it won’t let you off so easily. It immediately sets up a debate team inside:

• “Should I eat healthy?”

• “But I deserve a cheat day.”

• “Pizza is bad for me.”

• “But life is short, and happiness is round and cheesy.”

• “Wait, wasn’t I supposed to be on intermittent fasting?”

  
  

  By the time the verdict is out, I’ve ordered three items on Swiggy, canceled one, and eaten something else from the fridge. Hunger solved? Yes. Simple process? Not even close.

  
  

That’s the thing—the brain thrives on drama. It refuses to keep things plain and peaceful. If life is a cup of coffee, the brain insists on adding whipped cream, three syrups, sprinkles, and then complains that it’s too sweet.

And this is exactly why I began digging deeper: Why is the mind so restless? Why do we turn molehills into mountains and ice-cream flavors into existential crises? MindFlow was born out of this curiosity, this desire to understand why our simple, survival-focused brain behaves like a Bollywood director—always in search of a plot twist.

So here’s my conclusion from years of observation:

• The brain is simple.

• Humans complicate it.

• And once complicated, we spend a lifetime searching for “peace of mind” like it’s a lost pair of socks.

  
  

That’s where MindFlow comes in—not as another philosophy that says “renounce everything and sit on a mountain,” but as a practical, humorous, human way of training the mind. Because at the end of the day, life isn’t complicated. We are.

From Bananas to BMWs: The Pyramid of Needs

Back in 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow gave us his famous Hierarchy of Needs—a pyramid explaining what drives human behavior. At the bottom are the basics: food, water, sleep, safety. At the top sits self-actualization, which is just a fancy way of saying “figuring out what the heck you’re doing with your life.”

Now here’s the fun part: while Maslow drew a clean triangle, real life looks more like a badly drawn doodle on WhatsApp. Because humans have a knack for complicating this pyramid—upgrading each level from bananas to BMWs.

Stage 1: Physiological Needs

Caveman: “I need food.”

Us: “Do you have quinoa? Gluten-free? Farm-to-table organic? Can it be delivered in under 10 minutes with free delivery and a cashback coupon?”

Stage 2: Safety Needs

Caveman: “Build fire, stay safe from tiger.”

Us: “Is my antivirus updated? Did I enable 2FA? And will my car airbags deploy while I’m busy checking WhatsApp at the signal?”

Stage 3: Love & Belonging

Caveman: “Tribe likes me.”

Us: “Why didn’t she like my Instagram reel? Why did he leave me on ‘seen’? Do I belong in this WhatsApp group or should I create a new one?”

Stage 4: Esteem

Caveman: “I am a good hunter.”

Us: “I am a LinkedIn Thought Leader with 500+ connections. Also, I once got 142 likes for a post about drinking green tea.”

Stage 5: Self-Actualization

Caveman: “Pass on wisdom, keep tribe alive.”

Us: “Should I quit my job, travel the world, and start a YouTube channel about minimalism… using my latest iPhone 16 Pro Max?”

Maslow himself once said, “What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.” Ironically, in 2025, our awareness seems to be focused less on ourselves and more on whether our Wi-Fi router light is blinking green or red.

Even research confirms this upgrade of needs. A 2011 study from the University of Rochester expanded Maslow’s model by showing that social media approval and digital connectivity are now intertwined with belongingness and esteem. In simple terms, likes, shares, and retweets have become the new tribal fire around which we all sit and warm ourselves.

Earlier, survival meant running from tigers. Now it means running to catch Wi-Fi before your Zoom call starts. The environment has changed, but the underlying need—to feel safe and connected—is the same.

So the story of human evolution is basically this:

• Bananas became biryani.

• Fire became microwave ovens.

• Tribes became WhatsApp groups.

• And self-actualization? Well, that’s still pending… but hey, at least you’ve upgraded your Netflix plan.

3. 3. The Tech Tsunami: Gadgets Fly, Humans Crawl

If you dropped a caveman into 2025, he would probably look around, see people staring at glowing rectangles all day, and ask: “What are they doing? Worshipping fire again?”

And honestly, he wouldn’t be wrong. Our gadgets are the new campfire. The only difference is, instead of stories of mammoths, we now sit around and watch dance reels, cat videos, and unboxing of iPhones by people richer than us.

🧠 Stone Age Brain, 5G World

Here’s the real mismatch:

• Our brains evolved over millions of years to survive in jungles, run from predators, and gather food.

• Our world evolved in the last 20 years to survive on Wi-Fi, run for charging points, and gather likes.

  
  

Result? Our brains are still running on Stone Age software, while our gadgets keep updating faster than a teenager’s mood. Harvard researchers call this the “evolutionary lag” — the gap between slow biological evolution and lightning-fast cultural/technological change. Basically, our brains are still trying to process “Is that a tiger?” while we are busy asking “Is that reel viral?”

📱 New “Basic Needs”

Forget Maslow’s pyramid—technology gave us a whole new list of survival essentials:

• Notifications – the modern equivalent of rustling leaves. Caveman: “Tiger?” Us: “WhatsApp?”

• Followers – the digital tribe. Caveman: “20 people in my clan.” Us: “200 people muted in my Insta story.”

• Netflix – survival in episodes. Caveman: “We hunted mammoth for winter.” Us: “I hunted Season 3 in one night.”

  
  

⚔️ From Land Wars to Comment Wars

Our ancestors fought wars over land, water, and kingdoms. We fight wars in YouTube comment sections with people we’ll never meet:

• Caveman insult: “Your spear is weak.”

• Modern insult: “Your opinion is trash, bro. Educate yourself.”

  
  

  One required actual courage and wounds. The other requires only Wi-Fi and a bad attitude.

  
  

💡 Real-Life Absurdities

• Attention span: A goldfish officially beats us. Microsoft found the human attention span dropped to 8 seconds—less than a goldfish’s 9 seconds. Which means if you’re still reading this, congratulations, you just defeated Nemo.

• Digital survival: The biggest modern fear isn’t lions—it’s the low battery symbol flashing at 5%. Panic level: National Emergency.

• AI buddies: Caveman: talked to trees for wisdom. Us: talk to ChatGPT and then argue with Siri because she “doesn’t get me.”

  
  

Technology has given us everything—speed, comfort, entertainment. But it also made us crawl in new ways:

• We crawl through endless reels.

• We crawl for Wi-Fi signals in hotel lobbies.

• We crawl into bed promising “just one more episode” and crawl out looking like zombies at 3 AM.

  
  

The truth is: gadgets fly, but humans still crawl. We crawl because our ancient brains are trying to keep up with machines that don’t sleep, scroll, or crave biryani at midnight.

And yet, as comedian Jerry Seinfeld once joked, “It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.” In our world, it’s amazing how the amount of nonsense in our heads always just exactly fits the smartphone screen.

Complicated Problems, Simple Fixes

Here’s the thing about life: most of our “big” problems are not really problems. They’re just badly directed sitcom episodes running inside our heads. The script is dramatic, the acting is over the top, and the plot twist is completely unnecessary.

The truth? Simplicity solves 80% of life’s chaos. Let’s break it down:

🥗 Body: Stop Negotiating with Your Stomach

We complicate health like it’s rocket science. Diet fads, calorie calculators, intermittent fasting apps, keto vs. paleo debates—it’s endless.

But the body’s need is brutally simple: Eat clean. Move more.

·       Your stomach doesn’t need a TED Talk. It just wants real food.

·       Your muscles don’t need Instagram inspiration. They just want you to lift something heavier than your phone once in a while.

As nutritionist Michael Pollan famously said: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” That’s it. One line. Simpler than any 30-day detox program you’ve bookmarked but never started.

Example: You eat a slice of cake. Your brain writes a 3-hour guilt drama. The fix? Eat the cake, enjoy it, and walk for 20 minutes. Problem solved, sitcom canceled.

🧘 Mind: Your Brain is Not Google Chrome (Close the Tabs)

Our minds love complicating things with “What ifs.”

·       “What if I fail?”

·       “What if they laugh at me?”

·       “What if I had taken science in Class 11?”

Congratulations—you’ve just opened 47 unnecessary tabs in your mental browser. No wonder you feel slow and overheated.

The fix? Meditation, mindfulness, or even just conscious breathing. It’s not about chanting “Om” on a mountain—it’s about giving your brain the rare luxury of doing nothing.

As the Dalai Lama said: “If every 8-year-old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.”

If kids can benefit, so can you. But warning: your brain will resist at first. It will say, “This is boring. Let’s check WhatsApp.” That’s exactly why you need it.

❤️ Relationships: Lower Your Expectations, Raise Your Respect

Every rom-com and Instagram reel tells us relationships should be perfect. Reality? Even the strongest relationships are two imperfect humans trying not to murder each other while deciding where to order dinner from.

We complicate relationships with endless expectations:

·       “She should know what I’m thinking.”

·       “He should remember every date.”

·       “They should support my dreams without me ever communicating them.”

The fix? Drop perfection. Add respect.

As Dr. John Gottman, a famous relationship researcher, once put it: “What matters most is not how you fight, but how you repair.”

It’s not about avoiding arguments. It’s about remembering you’re on the same team. Respect differences, laugh at quirks, and stop auditioning your partner for a Bollywood romance. Life is not DDLJ, it’s more like a slightly chaotic sitcom—learn to laugh at the bloopers.

🎯 Purpose: Stop Collecting Missions Like Pokémon

Here’s another way we complicate life: by chasing too many things. Be rich. Be fit. Be spiritual. Be social. Be an entrepreneur. Be a good parent. Be a minimalist. Be a traveler. Be an influencer. Be everything, everywhere, all at once.

No wonder you’re exhausted. Purpose doesn’t mean juggling 100 things—it means aligning with what actually matters to you.

As Steve Jobs once said: “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”

The fix? Pick fewer things, but do them deeply. You don’t need 100 passions. You need 2–3 that make you feel alive and at peace.

At the end of the day, most problems are just bad sitcom episodes in your brain.

·       Body: You don’t need to debate quinoa vs. rice. Just eat clean.

·       Mind: You don’t need to overthink 2047. Just breathe today.

·       Relationships: You don’t need perfect. You need respect and laughter.

·       Purpose: You don’t need to chase everything. Just find your “enough.”

Life is simple. We’re the ones who add dramatic background music, supporting villains, and unnecessary flashbacks.

Or as comedian George Carlin once said: “Just when you think you have all the answers, the brain changes the questions.”

Man 2.0 vs Man 0.1: The Missing Update

If evolution were a software update, humans have basically been stuck on version 0.1 for the last 50,000 years. Our bodies, brains, and instincts are pretty much the same as our ancestors’. The only “update” is that now we walk around with glass screens in our hands, pretending to be more advanced.

But here’s the catch: our ancestors lived simpler, slower lives with fewer choices, while we live hyperconnected, hyperanxious lives drowning in options. Let’s compare.

🏹 What Ancestors Didn’t Do

·       Binge on reels – Their Netflix was the night sky. Imagine them sitting under the stars for hours, not because it was “aesthetic” but because there was literally nothing else to do.

·       Argue on Twitter – Disagreements were settled with sticks, not hashtags. At least you knew who you were fighting with.

·       Stress about stock markets – Their wealth was goats and grains. The only “market crash” they feared was the barn roof falling down.

·       Check calories – They burned 5000 a day hunting, gathering, and running. Nobody asked, “Is this mammoth keto?”

🌳 What Ancestors Did Do

·       Live with nature – Woke up with the sun, slept with the stars. Not alarms. Not deadlines.

·       Community bonds – Everyone was family or tribe. Nobody was “just a follower.”

·       Faith & rituals – Beliefs gave meaning and calm. Today, we panic if our phone dies for 10 minutes.

·       Simplicity – Eat what you get, wear what you have, survive together. No endless swiping for better options.

📱 Today’s Man: The Irony of Connection

We are more connected digitally than ever, yet less connected emotionally.

·    You know what your college classmate ate for dinner in Canada, but you don’t know what your neighbor is going through.

·     You have 1000 LinkedIn connections but no one to call when you’re lonely.

·     You argue passionately about world politics online but avoid eye contact with your family at dinner.

As sociologist Sherry Turkle said in her book Alone Together: “We are getting used to a new way of being alone together. People want to be with each other but also elsewhere, connected to all the different places they want to be.”

📰 How Media, AI, and News Distort Reality

Media – Designed for drama. Bad news spreads 7 times faster than good news. That’s why a cat being rescued gets 200 likes, but a cat attacking a human gets 2 million.

Internet – Information overload. You wanted to Google “headache remedies.” Ten minutes later you’re convinced you have 4 rare diseases and should write a will.

AI – Supposed to save time, but somehow we now spend more time asking ChatGPT to write jokes, reels, captions, and even wedding vows.

News – Once upon a time, news was an evening summary. Now it’s a 24/7 panic button. “Breaking news: something may or may not have happened.”

Grandpa fought for freedom. We fight for front-row seats at a comedy show.

Grandma prayed for rain. We pray for Uber surge pricing to end.

Ancestors feared tigers. We fear slow Wi-Fi during IPL streaming.

Man 2.0 is stuck because evolution hasn’t kept up with technology. We’re like cavemen with iPhones—brains wired for forests, but living in feed-scrolling jungles.

The truth? Our ancestors had fewer choices but maybe more peace. We have more comfort but less clarity. They had time. We have timers. They looked at the sky and saw stars. We look at the sky and see “5G towers.”

The Simple Brain in a Complicated World

Here’s the thing: despite all the noise of the modern world, your brain hasn’t upgraded much. It’s still running on the same software as your great-great-great-grandfather. Its to-do list hasn’t changed in thousands of years:

1.     Find food.

2.     Stay safe.

3.     Belong to a group.

4.     Make life meaningful.

Simple. Straightforward. Elegant.

But then along came humans with their Wi-Fi, malls, social media, and Netflix subscriptions. Suddenly, the brain that once worried about tigers now worries about typos in WhatsApp messages. It was built to handle hunger and danger, not Instagram filters and 50 brands of toothpaste.

🤯 Why Do We Overcomplicate?

Because we bombard the poor thing with too much stimulation and too many comparisons.

Your caveman ancestor saw one other hunter in the tribe. You open Instagram and see a thousand people with six-packs, Bali vacations, and motivational captions they clearly didn’t write.

Your ancestor compared his two goats with the neighbor’s three goats. You compare your life with 300 “success stories” on LinkedIn before breakfast.

No wonder the brain panics—it wasn’t designed for this.

As humorist Dave Barry once joked: “Your brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public. ”I’d add: or until you try to meditate.

🛠️ Simple Fixes for a Peaceful Life

The truth is, peace isn’t about adding more apps, gurus, or morning routines. It’s about removing the extra clutter.

Declutter thoughts – Not every notification deserves your attention. The “SALE – 10% OFF” ping is not life-changing. Neither is your uncle’s “Good Morning” WhatsApp GIF with 12 flowers and a dancing baby.

Simplify choices – Don’t turn dinner into a TED Talk on carbs vs. protein. Eat real food, enjoy it, and stop acting like you’re a contestant on MasterChef.

Strengthen relationships – Show up. Be present. Listen. Don’t measure love by Instagram stories tagged with your name. Your grandmother never posted a reel, and yet she loved fiercely.

Balance ambition with gratitude – It’s okay to chase success. Just remember to pause and be grateful. As Oprah said: “If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have, you’ll never have enough.”

Life’s biggest joke is this: the brain was designed to keep you alive, not to keep you anxious. It wants you to survive, not to endlessly wonder whether your ex’s new haircut means something.

Or as comedian Lily Tomlin quipped: “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.”

The brain is simple. We are the ones who complicate it. The world may keep changing—AI, reels, news, chaos—but deep inside, your brain still craves what it always has: food, safety, belonging, and meaning.

Maybe peace isn’t about finding something new. Maybe it’s about returning to what was always there.

So, live light. Laugh often. Love deeply. And remember—Life becomes beautiful when we let it stay simple.