In the Introduction, Easter embarks on a narrative that intertwines a journalistic endeavor in Iraq with an exploration of human behavior under the influence of scarcity. Easter begins his tale with an adventurous yet perilous attempt to accompany Baghdad’s drug enforcement team on a raid, facilitated by his unreliable fixer, Qutaiba Erbeed. This high-stakes scenario, set against the backdrop of a fortified police compound in Baghdad, is filled with images of notorious criminals and live feeds of holding cells and therefore serves as an illustration of the lengths to which Easter is willing to go in pursuit of his story.

The narrative quickly shifts from the immediate dangers of the Baghdad police compound to the broader theme of the book: the concept of the “scarcity brain.” Easter’s interest in understanding the behaviors that detrimentally impact human behavior leads him to investigate how the pervasive issue of scarcity drives individuals towards counterproductive actions. Despite the abundance in the modern world, Easter argues that humans are still trapped by an evolutionary predisposition to crave more: a condition that is exacerbated by constant exposure to scarcity cues. These cues often originate in advertising and social media, and they ignite a scarcity mindset that compels people to fixate on obtaining what they perceive themselves as lacking, often to their detriment.