25-08-2011, 03:20 AM
Ran Prieur [ http://www.ranprieur.com/ ] has a blog entry on tribes, as follows:
"August 24. Some psychology links about home tribes and enemy tribes. This article, The Illusion of Asymmetric Insight [ http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/08/21/t...c-insight/ ] , begins with an experiment from 1954, where two groups of boys were given enough slack that they formed tribes with leaders, rituals, values, and flags. Then when the two groups discovered each other, they immediately became enemies, and escalated the conflict until the researchers had to intervene to stop them from killing each other. I like to call this monkey tribe consciousness. Of course this is human nature, but I use the monkey metaphor to suggest that it's a shameful and backward part of human nature, which we must overcome.
When you look for monkey tribe consciousness, you can see it everywhere. Here's an article about how it applies to taxing the rich
[ http://www.economist.com/node/21525851 ]: "countries that are more ethnically or racially homogeneous are more comfortable with the state seeking to mitigate inequality by transferring some resources from richer to poorer people..." So taxes are high in Sweden and low in America because silly humans don't want their money going to the enemy tribe. Also there's a depressing bit about how poor people would rather give money to someone above them than someone below them.
Finally, Boredom Can Fuel Hostility Toward Outsiders [ http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/bor...ers-35001/ ]. It's confusing that they insist on using the word "boredom", which implies having nothing to do. What they're really talking about is meaninglessness. So, if people are forced to do tasks that are not part of a larger story, they seek that larger story by looking for enemy tribes to attack. This could be a big element in collapse: as a society feels more meaningless, it increasingly tears itself apart through external and internal conflict.
Also, I have a personal comment on the first article. After the bit about tribe war, the author starts talking about social masks:
You put on a mask and uniform before leaving for work. You put on another set for school. You have costume for friends of different persuasions and one just for family. Who you are alone is not who you are with a lover or a friend. You quick-change like Superman in a phone booth when you bump into old friends from high school at the grocery store, or the ex in line for the movie. When you part, you quick-change back and tell the person you are with why you appeared so strange for a moment.
Um... no, I don't. I've never done any of that stuff, except putting on a uniform for work, which I completely resented. Also, I have the opposite of normal results on the "iceberg" test: I feel like other people can see 90% of my true self, while I can see only about half of theirs. Of course, if I'm in a situation where I could get in trouble for revealing too much, then I'm going to hide stuff, but I don't like it, and I try to avoid those situations.:"
"August 24. Some psychology links about home tribes and enemy tribes. This article, The Illusion of Asymmetric Insight [ http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/08/21/t...c-insight/ ] , begins with an experiment from 1954, where two groups of boys were given enough slack that they formed tribes with leaders, rituals, values, and flags. Then when the two groups discovered each other, they immediately became enemies, and escalated the conflict until the researchers had to intervene to stop them from killing each other. I like to call this monkey tribe consciousness. Of course this is human nature, but I use the monkey metaphor to suggest that it's a shameful and backward part of human nature, which we must overcome.
When you look for monkey tribe consciousness, you can see it everywhere. Here's an article about how it applies to taxing the rich
[ http://www.economist.com/node/21525851 ]: "countries that are more ethnically or racially homogeneous are more comfortable with the state seeking to mitigate inequality by transferring some resources from richer to poorer people..." So taxes are high in Sweden and low in America because silly humans don't want their money going to the enemy tribe. Also there's a depressing bit about how poor people would rather give money to someone above them than someone below them.
Finally, Boredom Can Fuel Hostility Toward Outsiders [ http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/bor...ers-35001/ ]. It's confusing that they insist on using the word "boredom", which implies having nothing to do. What they're really talking about is meaninglessness. So, if people are forced to do tasks that are not part of a larger story, they seek that larger story by looking for enemy tribes to attack. This could be a big element in collapse: as a society feels more meaningless, it increasingly tears itself apart through external and internal conflict.
Also, I have a personal comment on the first article. After the bit about tribe war, the author starts talking about social masks:
You put on a mask and uniform before leaving for work. You put on another set for school. You have costume for friends of different persuasions and one just for family. Who you are alone is not who you are with a lover or a friend. You quick-change like Superman in a phone booth when you bump into old friends from high school at the grocery store, or the ex in line for the movie. When you part, you quick-change back and tell the person you are with why you appeared so strange for a moment.
Um... no, I don't. I've never done any of that stuff, except putting on a uniform for work, which I completely resented. Also, I have the opposite of normal results on the "iceberg" test: I feel like other people can see 90% of my true self, while I can see only about half of theirs. Of course, if I'm in a situation where I could get in trouble for revealing too much, then I'm going to hide stuff, but I don't like it, and I try to avoid those situations.:"
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"