The Case Against Tribalism
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  The Case Against Tribalism
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Author Topic: The Case Against Tribalism  (Read 553 times)
Beet
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« on: January 01, 2018, 01:48:17 PM »

“The whole history of humankind,” a recent political leader said, “is basically the definition of who is us and who is them, and the question of whether we should all live under the same set of rules,” adding that people “[have] deep psychic needs…to feel that their identity requires them to be juxtaposed against someone else.” Nationalism, racism, identity politics, and religious sectarianism are all forms of tribalism.

1. Tribal identities tend to generate prejudice against outsiders. This is the main harm of tribalism and most obvious. But tribalism also has a tendency to become so strong that it overwhelms all other values and moralities. Virtually any harm, whether it be lying, cheating, stealing, killing, raping, lawbreaking, and so on, is justified so long as it benefits the tribal identity.

2. Tribal identities are not well defined. For example, if one says they are an American nationalist, it raises the question of what is America? What does nationalism entail the defense of? One person may speak of America's Constitution, the ideals of the Founding Fathers, etc. Another person may speak of economic protectionism, and the need to keep jobs within our borders, and so on. Another person may speak of military might, and so on. Another person may speak of the country's reputation and so on. The point is, it's incoherent. What one person thinks of when the identity is talked about is not the same as what the other person thinks of.

3. Tribal identities are not chosen, but accidents of birth. If I join a soccer team, the fact that I am in the soccer team is because I, as a thinking and acting human being, saw the merit of the soccer team and sacrificed other alternatives to join it. Because I sacrificed something else to join the team, that gives my membership in the team real meaning. In the very act of joining I have proven its value to me. And I am there because of who I am as a person and free agent.

On the other hand, groups like race, gender, and nationality I am in only due to an accident of birth. Just because Isaac Newton was a man and I am a man, it does not mean I get to be proud in any way of Newton's discoveries. The only connection I have with Newton is literally an accident. Nothing I as a person have done has associated me with him, necessarily. Some people use pride in a group as a psychological crutch that prevents them from achieving their own goals or accomplishments because they spend effort taking false pride in other people's achievements. Alternately, some people feel needlessly guilty because of past crimes associated with their group that they personally had nothing to do with. This is also wrong. People should only be credited or blamed for what which they chose to do themselves.

4. Tribal identities are for the most part inaccessible. If you are in an out-group, there is usually no way to become an in-group member. This is unpleasant because it limits one's freedom and options. It puts importance on something that circumstance imposes on people, rather than people themselves.

In conclusion, tribal identity minimizes or erases everything that makes us individuals and human beings: our thoughts, our choices, our actions, our character, our values. In its place it substitutes totally arbitrary factors of chance: who were born to, where we were born, our biology, and so on. It has a tendency to reduce people to objects defined by immutable properties. And it does all of this in the name of concepts that are ill defined constructs (what is "this nation", what constitutes "this race"?) or grossly simple categories with no intrinsic meaning (what is the intrinsic meaning of being a Hutu or a Tutsi?) This is the problem with tribalism.
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TexArkana
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« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2018, 02:25:16 PM »

This intense polarization can't last much longer - or else the US will be in deep trouble.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2018, 05:30:54 PM »

Like it or not, tribalism is hard-wired into human psychology and is not going anywhere (read The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt for a good explanation of how that works). We have no choice but to deal with it and to try to harness its power for a good cause.
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TJ in Oregon
TJ in Cleve
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« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2018, 04:22:04 PM »

The best antidote for tribalism is strict adherence to principles and rules regardless of whether they benefit your side or not. If principles and rules are flexible enough to be entirely based on the situation rather than merely implemented in the given situation, then they will almost inevitably turn into "heads I win, tails you lose" types of arguments. For those folks outside the in-group, as long as decisions are made by emotion, they will always receive poorer treatment. However, a dispassionate implementation of the rules may occasionally be in their favor.
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Beet
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« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2018, 01:33:54 AM »

Like it or not, tribalism is hard-wired into human psychology and is not going anywhere (read The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt for a good explanation of how that works). We have no choice but to deal with it and to try to harness its power for a good cause.

I believe Haidt presents evidence for group tribalism in general, however my argument actually refers to a particular kind of tribalism around immutable identities (race, nation, gender, sexual orientation). I have no problem with Haidt's religious teams or sub communities.
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