Thoughts On Tribalism

[Revoltingest]

This thread was inspired by something I heard on NPR.
Oddly, people with more information tend to take more extreme
positions...so the talking head said. This is because of how the
info retained is selected. Seems reasonable to me.
I searched the web, & found...
Group polarization - Wikipedia

Both sources reminded me of continual attempts by many to make
the beliefs of others more negatively extreme, & to make their own
tribe's more noble. Reality appears to lie in between.

Of course, this goes beyond my chosen forum, ie, the political world.
Feel free to expand into religion, science, etc.

 

[Stanyon]

People with similar goals and aims banding together to get things done is a great thing.

 

[Revoltingest]

People with similar goals and aims banding together to get things done is a great thing.

Reminds me of an Amish pick-up line....
"So, doest thee come to barn raisings often?"

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Oddly, people with more information tend to take more extreme
positions...

I call that, and raise them non-theists having to think and ponder about morality with all their information and different perspectives and the limited information containing theists who try to put everything into a box of "this or that."

 

[Shadow Wolf]

New People with similar goals and aims banding together to get things done is a great thing.

That greatly depends and varies.

 

[Road Less Traveled]

Both sources reminded me of continual attempts by many to make
the beliefs of others more negatively extreme, & to make their own
tribe's more noble. Reality appears to lie in between.

I know that if I wanted to mock something, I’d cleverly portray myself as in that tribe while subtly making it look stupid, negative, foolish, and ridiculously absurd. Or not even have to be in that tribe and do the same things.

Just as with the opposite, I’d do whatever it took to paint my tribe as noble, rainbows, holier than thou, unerring, rational, right, good, saintly. The funny thing is most people aren’t even aware that they are doing that.

With all of the said above, I’m very happy to be free from all of that. Much easier to discern the junk in all of them and the usefulness in all of them by being free from such.

 

[Road Less Traveled]

I know that if I wanted to mock something, I’d cleverly portray myself as in that tribe while subtly making it look stupid, negative, foolish, and ridiculously absurd. Or not even have to be in that tribe and do the same things.

Just as with the opposite, I’d do whatever it took to paint my tribe as noble, rainbows, holier than thou, unerring, rational, right, good, saintly. The funny thing is most people aren’t even aware that they are doing that.

With all of the said above, I’m very happy to be free from all of that. Much easier to discern the junk in all of them and the usefulness in all of them by being free from such.

The smarter and more intelligent the people are at this, especially much more smarter and intelligent than the common folk... the craftier they’d be able to fleece the populace in any field.

 

[sun rise]

That greatly depends and varies.

Aye, there's the rub. Being unified for a positive outcome is wonderful. But being unified is and of itself not always a good idea.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Aye, there's the rub. Being unified for a positive outcome is wonderful. But being unified is and of itself not always a good idea.

Yup. Barn raising is a remarkable example of how a community can come together for the benefit of others and the community. Ethnic genocide is a remarkable example of how a nation can come together and damn near exterminate an entire ethnicity from a continent.

 

[Stanyon]

That greatly depends and varies.

Already?

 

[Stanyon]

Golly, why did the E.C. choose Trump?

All in Favour say Aye, all opposed say Nay

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Golly, why did the E.C. choose Trump?

All in Favour say Aye, all opposed say Nay

The EC are privileged asshats who have lomg outlived their usefulness and purpose. Really, wed be better off with a parliamentary sytem based on proportionate representation. Too many Americans simply lack any sort of real representation with the winner take all, first past the goal system.

 

[Duke_Leto]

Reminds me of an Amish pick-up line....
"So, doest thee come to barn raisings often?"

Just as a minor nitpick, it ought to say thou rather than thee. Thou is the second person subjective case; thee is objective. E.g. “Thou art awesome” vs. “Shall I give to thee a dog?”

 

[Revoltingest]

Just as a minor nitpick, it ought to say thou rather than thee. Thou is the second person subjective case; thee is objective. E.g. “Thou art awesome” vs. “Shall I give to thee a dog?”

You're right.
My post looks so wrong on 2nd glance.

 

[Jim]

This thread was inspired by something I heard on NPR.
Oddly, people with more information tend to take more extreme
positions...so the talking head said. This is because of how the
info retained is selected. Seems reasonable to me.
I searched the web, & found...
Group polarization - Wikipedia

Both sources reminded me of continual attempts by many to make
the beliefs of others more negatively extreme, & to make their own
tribe's more noble. Reality appears to lie in between.

Of course, this goes beyond my chosen forum, ie, the political world.
Feel free to expand into religion, science, etc.

How it happens might be very complex. Part of it might be people trying to satisfy psychological and social needs in unhealthy ways. Part of it might be fundraising, and speaking, writing and performance careers, that revolve around helping people excuse and camouflage their animosities across lines of prejudice. Part of it might be an impulse to try to do something about all the problems, and substituting words in the place of action by participating in campaigns of denunciation against some group or category of people as scapegoats.

It looks to me mostly like people trying to feel welcome in some social circle by denouncing its scapegoats. Denouncing the scapegoats might be the easiest form of virtue signaling.

There might never be any end to finding explanations for it. My only interest in it is to try to help change it. Before I saw this thread, I had already decided to start a thread about that.