We often take the way we live for granted. Living in a home with our family and working for a salary can seem like the normal way to do things. Anthropology teaches us that this arrangement is the exception, rather than the rule. In fact this ‘mode of adaptation’, as we call it, is a recent innovation of our species. Other modes of adaptation practiced by our ancestors and many societies today lead to less hierarchy in society and more leisure time. Copyright 2012 Nicholas Herriman / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Please contact for permissions.