Return to the Office: Truly Monkey Business

You have read it: even Amazon is demanding that employees return to the office. The era of remote work is winding down. But don’t worry—the return to the office is good for us! Why? Because humans aren’t really designed to work in isolation. We’re social animals, and our well-being is tightly linked to being around others. It’s not just about productivity—it’s about being human.

Humans: Wired for Social Interaction

Remember when Aristotle called us "zoon politikon"? He wasn’t being poetic; he was being literal. We’re meant to live in groups, to seek out the company of others, to figure out our place in the social jungle. And the office, with all its flaws, is an extension of that tribe. It’s where we understand our role, gauge social hierarchies, and engage in those very human status games.

In the office, you see the unspoken dance of social dynamics—who’s getting ahead, who’s in whose favor, and who’s navigating the politics. It’s not just modern life; it's baked into our evolutionary DNA. Even our hormonal systems, especially the oxytocin and serotonin networks, are wired to reinforce bonding, hierarchy, and group belonging. This is why isolation is psychologically taxing; our brains are fundamentally built to flourish among others.

Dunbar’s Number Does Not Count Emojis

You have probably heard of Dunbar’s Number, the idea that humans can really only maintain about 150 meaningful relationships. It’s no coincidence that offices, with their small teams, shared spaces, and regular meetings, fit well into that framework. You know the faces from your department, those you pass on your way to grab a coffee—those people make up your tribe. They fit within that 150.

But when we’re working remotely, those relationships thin out. They turn into a grid of flat faces on display, with emoticons replacing sensing emotion through body language. The spontaneity disappears. We lose the hallway chats, the shared jokes that arise naturally, the tiny moments that remind us we’re part of something. We become isolated nodes, and that’s not what we evolved to be. We need those casual interactions that don’t always have a purpose—because they help us feel connected.

Screens vs. Public Space

Here’s another issue: screens have taken over, and public spaces have shrunk. There was a time when people met in public not just to consume but to create, to debate, to share ideas. Today, we still go out to restaurants, bars, and cafés—but these are private consumption zones. The office is one of the last true public spaces where something is built collectively. Take that away, and what’s left is just a series of private interactions, without the shared creation. The public space to create—the office—is being eroded.

Tacit Knowledge and the Sidekick Effect

Beyond just the social aspects, the office is where tacit knowledge lives. It’s the kind of learning you can't get from a manual or a training video. You learn by seeing, by imitating, by picking up on cues that are never explicitly spelled out. Every intern, every newcomer has been there—trying to mimic the experienced ones, following what the boss's sidekick does to stay in favor. It’s often the stuff of comedy, but it’s how we, as humans, learn. It’s the reason someone starts unconsciously adopting their boss’s phrases or mirroring the way they handle meetings. It’s about absorbing through immersion.

Tacit knowledge—how to behave in meetings, how to manage conflict, how to understand power without explicit words—is only absorbed by being present. You watch, you copy, you adapt. Remote work strips away this layer. It leaves us with only explicit instructions, the kind that can be written down, but misses everything else that makes an organization function smoothly. Have your ever tried onboarding someone fresh from university with zero working experience remotely? Exactly!

Fully Remote Work: Fighting Nature

The push for remote work is understandable. Many offices are toxic, some commutes are miserable, and not all managers are pleasant to deal with. But the solution isn’t to retreat entirely—it’s to make those environments better. Human nature doesn’t shy away from challenges. It confronts them, argues, negotiates, and finds solutions. Office conflicts should be out in the open, should be navigated and resolved—not avoided by hiding in our homes.

Trying to make corporate life purely remote fights against our instincts. We need social friction, the tension that leads to resolution, the exposure that helps us grow.

The Office Isn’t Perfect, But It’s Ours

So yes, the office isn’t flawless. There are bad days, awkward meetings, and colleagues we’d rather avoid. But it’s also where we find community, where we navigate complex human dynamics, and where we learn in ways that go far beyond job descriptions. We are meant to share space, to be together, to learn not just from what people say but from what they do.

Coming back to the office isn’t a nostalgic return to old ways. It’s a recognition of who we are. Humans are social animals. The office might be flawed, but it’s a public space where we belong, where we create, and where, despite everything, we thrive together. It’s monkey business, sure—but it’s also what makes us human.