It's not in our nature, it's in the rewards we desire.
We desire the best mate possible. No industrial or computer advance has (yet) provided any of us with better mates. Mates are as scarce as they were hundreds and thousands of years ago.
Mates choose each other according to relative status. By definition, there is no way we can increase everyone's relative status.
So the reason people grind as hard as they used to is that they're facing the same incentives and barriers: For the mate you want, you have to grind your way up the status hierarchy (or at least enough to avoid falling). Competition is just as stiff as it was in 1950 or 1850, or 1000 BC.
Things will only truly change in this respect when we invent artificial ways to satisfy peoples' desire for mates. However, this won't happen soon. Sexbots are only a small part of it; a mate is much more.
I guess the immediate question I’d have in response to that hypothesis is: if seeking a mate is what’s leading people to grind, why doesn’t that behavior taper off after marriage?
Wouldn’t you think that’s not enough? (Also note the other two plausible theories in this sub-thread.) Divorce rates aren’t 100%, and marriages typically last many years before a divorce. This means marriage should statistically be a significant drag on the hypothesis that seeing a make is what drives working long hours. (Not to mention the inherent conflict between working long hours and dating / spending time with someone.) Do you find it probable or plausible that mate-seeking is the primary and/or only reason people work hard? Is that why you do it, do you think? Of course I can’t tell why I’ve worked hard over the years, but it doesn’t really feel linked or even related to mate seeking at all. I only started working long hours after starting a long term relationship that eventually turned into a happy stable marriage. It’s highly unlikely divorce is in my future, but I feel many years of hard work left in me.
We desire the best mate possible. No industrial or computer advance has (yet) provided any of us with better mates. Mates are as scarce as they were hundreds and thousands of years ago.
Mates choose each other according to relative status. By definition, there is no way we can increase everyone's relative status.
So the reason people grind as hard as they used to is that they're facing the same incentives and barriers: For the mate you want, you have to grind your way up the status hierarchy (or at least enough to avoid falling). Competition is just as stiff as it was in 1950 or 1850, or 1000 BC.
Things will only truly change in this respect when we invent artificial ways to satisfy peoples' desire for mates. However, this won't happen soon. Sexbots are only a small part of it; a mate is much more.