On human nature, the human condition, and progress
Griffith began writing on the human condition in 1975. His books seek to give a biological and rational explanation of human behaviour[4] and include references to philosophical and religious sources.[3]
His first book on the subject, Free: The End of the Human Condition, was published in 1988,[14] and Griffith was interviewed by Caroline Jones on her Radio National program, The Search for Meaning.[15][16] A Species In Denial (2003) became a bestseller in Australia and New Zealand.[17] 'Freedom': The End of the Human Condition (2016) has been described as the definitive presentation of his treatise.[18][19]
Griffith presents a wide-ranging induction-derived synthesis.[18] In support of his theory, he cites from a broad selection of sources, including many thinkers he regards as "unevasive" or "contemporary prophets", including James Darling, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Thomas Huxley, Stephen Hawking and Laurens van der Post.[4][6]
Griffith explains human nature (what he terms the human condition) by proposing that as consciousness emerged in our hominid ancestors, the intellect's experiments in self-management were in effect criticised by our pre-established instincts, the result of which was that humans unavoidably became increasingly "angry, egocentric and alienated".[20][21] An article by Griffith published in The Irish Times summarised the thesis presented in Freedom: The End of The Human Condition (2016) as "Adam & Eve without the guilt: explaining our battle between instinct and intellect."[22] Kirkus Reviews wrote, "Griffith offers a treatise about the true nature of humanity and about overcoming anxieties about the world".[23]
According to psychologist Ronald Conway, Griffith holds that we are at war with our own selves, causing humanity to become, as Plato proposed in his allegory of the cave, alienated from its original peaceful state of innocence. Griffith says that this war within is the cause of ongoing actual wars and the general lack of cooperation in the world.[24] Griffith analyses the scientific literature in human evolution; rejects claims that human ancestors were brutal and aggressive; and instead points to fossil evidence such as that of Ardipithecus ramidus, and primatological studies of bonobos (the great ape Pan paniscus), in support of his thesis that ancient humans were a gentle, loving and co-operative species.[2][25]
The Templeton Prize winner and biologist Charles Birch, the New Zealand zoologist John Morton, the former president of the Canadian Psychiatric Association Harry Prosen, and Australian Everest mountaineer Tim Macartney-Snape[26][21][20] have been long-standing proponents of Griffith's ideas. Birch wrote the Foreword to Griffith's 2004 book A Species In Denial.[6] Morton commended several of Griffith's books.[27][28] In 2021 Prosen wrote, "Griffith puts forward a wide-ranging induction-derived synthesis. As Professor Scott Churchill, former Chair of Psychology at the University of Dallas, said in his review of Freedom, 'Griffith's perspective comes to us not as a simple opinion of one man, but rather as an inductive conclusion drawn from sifting through volumes of data representing what scientists have discovered.' ... I have no doubt Griffith's explanation of the human condition is the holy grail of insight we have sought for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race".[18]
A reviewer of Griffith's 2003 book A Species in Denial described the book's thesis as "humanity is in denial about the loss of its innocence in a corrupt and broken world", and believed it would have benefited from including discussion of the works of Martin Buber, H. Richard Niebuhr, Lawrence Kohlberg and James W. Fowler, who also examine the moral stages of human growth.[29]
Some reviewers described A Species in Denial as challenging[30] or difficult to read, however "through the repetition of his concepts the reader finally grasps Griffith's meaning and, surprisingly, when this happens all kinds of questions arise, which is refreshing."[31] Conway wrote "A Species In Denial needs repeated reading, not because it is particularly difficult but because it goes against so much of the resigned don't-rock-the-boat attitude of the Western mind in particular."[24]
Griffith's ideas have been criticised based on perceived problems with the empirical veracity of his anthropological writings, an objection that highlights his reliance on the writings of the South African novelist Sir Laurens van der Post and Kung! Bushman researcher Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.[2] While readers may agree with the broad thrust of Griffith's thesis, some may also disagree with his evaluation of certain people and events, for example his "high opinion" of the Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing.[32]
In a 2020 article "The fury of the left, explained", published in The Spectator Australia, Griffith argues that the ideology of the Left is dangerous to humanity's progress. He describes left-wing views as regressive and likely to lead to extinction:[33]
So that is the first left-wing-culture-destroying clarification that understanding the human condition enables – that while the right-wing has continued humanity's heroic quest for understanding, the Left has given in to the temptation of relief-hunting[a] and abandoned that all-important search [for understanding of the human condition].
... the Left have not only given up the search for understanding, they are actively working against the finding of it. This is because their favoured feel-good cause of dogmatically insisting that everyone comply with PC, Marxist cooperative and selfless principles oppresses the freedom of expression needed to find knowledge, ultimately the understanding of ourselves that alone can end our insecure condition and actually bring about a cooperative and loving world.
— Jeremy Griffith (2020), The Spectator Australia
When interviewed by Alan Jones and Graham Richardson on their Richo & Jones Sky News Australia television programme in 2020, Griffith said that "my article in The Spectator last week was all about how we can bring rationale, understanding to the danger of the Left, reason versus dogma".[34]
Dutch actor Pierre Bokma discussed Griffith's work on the Zomergasten television programme for VPRO in 2024, saying Griffith's explanation allowed him to understand why humans are ultimately good despite being angry, guilty, alienated, selfish, egotistic and power hungry.[35]
In 2025 Macartney-Snape wrote that Griffith had answered what John Kenneth Galbraith referred to as "the search for a truly superior moral justification for selfishness".[21]
Fix The World
Fix The World was founded by Griffith in 1983 as the Centre for Humanity's Adulthood, an organisation dedicated to developing and promoting understanding of the human condition. It was incorporated in 1990 with Griffith and his colleague, mountaineer Tim Macartney-Snape, among its founding directors and became a registered charity in New South Wales in 1990, known as the Foundation for Humanity's Adulthood. In 2009, its name changed to the World Transformation Movement[36] and then to Fix The World in 2026.[37]
In 1995, Griffith, Macartney-Snape and the Foundation for Humanity's Adulthood (Fix The World's name at the time) were the subject of an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Four Corners programme[19] and an article in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) newspaper[38] in which it was alleged that Macartney-Snape used speaking appearances at schools to promote the foundation, and that Griffith "publishes work of such a poor standard that it has no support at all from the scientific community". In defamation actions against the ABC and the SMH, the allegations were ruled to be false and the pieces defamatory.[39]
In 1998, following a complaint by Griffith and Macartney-Snape, the Australian Broadcasting Authority censured the ABC for unbalanced and inaccurate reporting and breaching the ABC code of practice, with The Bulletin describing the Four Corners programme as a "hatchet job" (another term for a "hit piece").[4]
Griffith, Macartney-Snape and Fix The World sued the ABC and the Sydney Morning Herald in the NSW Supreme Court and both publications were found to be defamatory.[38][40] In 2008, the ABC was ordered to pay Macartney-Snape almost $500,000 in damages, and with costs, the payout was expected to exceed $1 million.[40] While the jury found that what the ABC said about Griffith was defamatory, the judge dismissed the case after the defences of truth, qualified privilege and comment were considered.[39][40] Griffith appealed that decision to the New South Wales Court of Appeal, which dismissed the appeal[41] on the basis of qualified privilege and comment being upheld, but found that the defamatory allegation about Griffith was not justified.[19][39][42] The court case against the Sydney Morning Herald was resolved in 2009 when it published an apology to Fix The World for the harm caused by the publication.[43]
