So I talked about tribalism in my first post. Basically what I mean by people being increasingly tribal is that there’s a human tendency to divide ourselves into groups where we feel we belong and then adamantly defend this “tribe”. Why do we do this? Let’s take a step back and lay out some basic assumptions first.
People want to know the truth. We’re insanely driven towards our pursuit of it. It makes us feel secure to be confident in our knowledge of the world and of people around us. And when we feel the truth is fairly tangible, we seek it through the scientific method. Those truths, once found, are hard to argue against and we usually collectively accept them. But what happens in the cases where the truth isn’t something so tangible? Maybe it’s not so “black or white” or maybe the truth would just take way too much trial and error to discover. Either way when we can’t just do an experiment or collectively agree on one single truth, the natural urge to feel secure in our knowledge compels people to latch onto a possible truth instead. And despite not having evidence to support this theory, it still makes us feel better to trust it and defend it— especially when it represents a tribe to which we belong.
Imagine a friend of yours that had a bad breakup. Imagine that before the breakup, you really liked their significant other and became friends with them as well. Imagine your whole group of friends really liked their relationship and eventually you’re all good friends with both parties in the couple. Then what happens when they break up over something where the blame isn’t very obvious? What happens to your friend group when there are two sides to this story? Tribes form. When you talk about the breakup, some of your friends say “I’m on his side” and the others say “I’m on her side”. And if you were imagining a same-sex couple, you get the point still. Ultimately, there are multiple versions of the truth and people are left to decide which to believe.
Now on a much larger, societal scale, the two main tribes seem to be primarily divided by different schools of thought on economics, welfare and other values. Yes, I’m talking about Democrats and Republicans in the US. As far as I’m concerned, these two opposing sides are as old as time. But I think what’s causing the more recent increasing polarization in this country is fear. It’s fear. It’s uncertainty. It’s insecurity.
Here’s why.
When people are insecure, they seek a truth to latch onto. And when political parties are dealing out theories as absolutes, they win the loyalty of the fearful. Then those people are part of the tribe. And when the tribe has multiple beliefs that it holds as a group, the new members are likely to mold themselves into agreement. Then as both tribes grow larger and larger, so does the number of beliefs that define them. But I think there’s a tipping point. The tipping point happens when the beliefs get too specific and less-nuanced. That’s when a tribe starts losing popularity.
Think about it this way. When the criteria for belonging to a group become highly specific and the group demands full commitment to all of its beliefs, people are less likely to join. For example maybe I enjoy eating lunch with a group of guys because they share my sense of humor. Also, it doesn’t require too much commitment from me because the only rules are “no peanuts” and “don’t be a dick”. But if I sit at the table one day and they say “on Wednesdays we wear pink”, then I might just go and find another table.
Similarly whenever somebody who claims to represent Democrats or Republicans shames and demonizes a person who opposes their stance on an issue, the party effectively rejects that individual and loses the potential for their support. And when this kind of thing happens a lot, the party suffers.
Yeah, of course I know it’s not that simple. I’m not dishing out any criticisms at all for exactly that reason. I’m just emphasizing the basic principle that when winning is about popularity, the winners will be the team that’s less exclusive.
But why play this game at all? Maybe if we weren’t so insecure as a nation, individuals could stop clinging to tribes based on unproven theories and instead focus on seeking real truth. When I was a little kid, I was asked “if your friends all jump off a cliff, would you do it too?”. The question is meant to teach kids to think logically and to think for themselves. So what do you think? Would you jump off too?
It’s never too late to answer no.
Filip, again.
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