Why Is The Default State Of Human Consciousness So Dysfunctional?

[Preetom]

Give man a gift, he will turn it into a personal problem. Give man an ally, one day he will make an enemy out of him. Give man a paradise, he will turn it into hell  (and then complain about it).
Why is the default mode so dysfunctional and wired to backfire sooner or later? Is this the very nature of reality?
If Reality contains everything then why a functional, healthy state of consciousness is not the default state? Or a healthy and dysfunctional default state rotate in a cyclic order over huge time boundary? 
Whenever I watch any nature/wildlife documentary it strikes me that nature has such  balanced intelligence. There is no animal in wilderness that is "depressed" or has "social anxiety"  The nature's default mode is self sustaining and balanced.
Why human consciousness always make a mess out of stuff sooner or later?
Please guide me through your answers and suggest me relevant books/blog/video etc which I can study/contemplate to get deeper wisdom on this issue.
Lastly a quote from Eckhart tolle, " Look at a cat, a tree. Learn how to live and die from a tree and how not to make a problem out of living and dying."
 

[Wyatt]

I'm not a believer in any theology, I think most religions are ways to brainwash individuals into conforming to their culture. But, Buddhism answers your question really well. The Three marks of Existence are a general guideline to explain the nature of all of existence and especially human nature: Annica (Inconsistency and Impermanence: everything is changing and no 2 moments are exactly alike), Dukkha (Unsatisfactory, suffering, and pain: these are central motifs of human life), and Anatta (No-Self: Can we experienced through enlightenment).

To answer you specifically, I think that humans, very generally, are displeased with the way things are. Anxiety and fear are strong and very present emotions for most people. You give somebody some reassurance from these fears, and they'll find 10 more things to worry about. This "flaw" is also what makes human creativity special. If we thought everything was fine and dandy just the way it was and needed no improvements, nothing would be created. Progress would come to an eternal halt. 

Also, I think you're looking at nature too much like a utopia, when really, it's BRUTAL SURVIVAL. Some animals seem to not have major psychological flaws compared to humans, but they're constantly worried about their survival in similar ways that we are. "When's the next time I'm gonna have food? Are there any predators nearby that I need to protect myself from? How can I prove myself so I can get laid? Is there a safe place to sleep?" Just look at a squirrel and you'll see what I mean.

[Preetom]

@Wyatt Thank you for answering. I recently started studying Buddhism and yes I totally agree with you on how honestly they deal with these issues ( at least true buddhism. not the popular one). I will definitely look into it.
And about nature, I've watched documentaries and realized how brutal and challenging life on wilderness is. Most species die or get killed prematurely. I used see wilderness as utopia. But now I see it as it is. But the thing is, not a single species has made a 'Problem' out of it and gone mad.
There are species on earth who go through magnanimous hardship just to get through a day and have to do it everyday until death. Still no species on earth complain and have a mental breakdown.
All "problems" of the world are just human problems.

[Visitor]

8 hours ago, Preetom said:

...Why is the default mode so dysfunctional and wired to backfire sooner or later? Human ego coupled with free-will tendencies creates the common phenomenon of "self-will-run-riot".

Is this the very nature of reality? No.
 

The default mode for the ego is exploitation. It does this because no matter what we know, collect, gather and claim for the self, it will never be enough because the self is empty/nothing. It cannot be filled because it is nothing but a fabricated story for the mind to make some sort of sense of itself. 

During exploitation everything and anything will eventually be used and wasted, and ALL FOR NOTHING.

Edited July 16, 2017 by Visitor

[pluto]

Manipulation/Distortion

[Spiral]

We are intelligent but still our needs and desires are primitive, this makes us do thing that only serves us, in ways that aren't sustainable for anyone.

[Loreena]

@Preetom Because we always focus on our lower needs rather than our higher needs. This makes us primitive and dysfunctional. Also our education system is not equipped in turning us into healthy self actualized functional individuals. 

@pluto what kind of distortion.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Loreena

[SFRL]

Overpopulation 

Throw too many of any sort of animal together in too small of an area and they all start acting dysfunctional. 

[Shin]

What makes you think it's our natural state ?

Do you remember when you were a child ?

That was your natural state, before the conditioned society conceptualized your brain like a band of giant black rape a tiny european.