The Hunter in a Farmer’s World Re-examined

Written by Cynthia Hammer, MSW

About the time I got diagnosed with ADHD, Thom Hartmann produced the first edition of ADHD: Hunters in a Farmer’s World.  I wanted to know the facts about ADHD; the research, and Thom’s book was based on a theory with only his understanding of ADHD to back up what he said.  An appeal of his book is questioning why ADHD is primarily inherited and why 10% of the population has ADHD.  He asks,  “Would nature and natural selection make such a big mistake?”  Thom’s theorizes that people with ADHD were hunters through most of the 2.5 million years of human history.  Interesting and fun to consider, but nothing I took seriously.

Now I am reading Why Buddhism Is True.  Coincidentally, the author, Robin Wright, states in the book that he has Attention Deficit Disorder.  Mr. Wright posits that all of human behavior is based on a single motivation---will this behavior continue my gene pool.  He analyzes maladaptive behaviors in humans today and speculates that these behaviors weren’t maladaptive for most of our history when we lived in small tribal groups. 

I wanted to email Robin Wright and ask him why he thought ADHD existed today, but couldn’t find a contact for him.  I imagine he would tell me something similar to what Thom Hartmann believes, “Those with ADHD were the hunters in earlier times.”  I agree that those with hyperactivity and high energy would be the hunters, but what about those of us with inattentive ADHD?  How do we fit into this story?

And then it occurred to me, the women who predominantly have inattentive ADHD, married the men with predominantly hyperactive ADHD. The women were content to wait around for the men to return from hunting while they daydreamed the day away. Even today we often find men and women with ADHD marrying one another.  We are compatible in so many ways!  My speculation even has an explanation for the minority of women with hyperactivity and high energy. They were hunters, probably of the smaller creatures, and they married men with inattentive ADHD who waited for them to return, adding interest and excitement to their lives.  

Everything was swell until we got to the industrial age, and people settled down in cities.  There was no longer a tribal culture and hunters and their spouses lost their esteemed place in life’s hierarchy.  With our different brain wiring, not appropriate for a settled life, we are a mismatch for the modern world, but if we learn some new behaviors and strategies, we manage to do quite well.  Thank you very much!

So give us some space and a few kudos along the way and just watch what we are capable of!