Sociality Rules (Tribalism)

First watch this video.

Politics and polarization have obviously gotten very bad and are getting worse by the day, not only in the United States but also in the rest of what has historically been called "western civilization." Tribal behaviors are primitive in the sense that they are entirely instinctually driven, so those engaging in these behaviors are never aware that they are doing so. These unconscious behaviors can be overridden over time, but only with great effort and only rarely. The rules below are for non-tribal observers who want to understand what they're looking at.

It is always alleged that new technologies will create a better world. Social media was sold the same way. But the more primitive tribal behaviors we see all around us today were enabled by social media. These tribal instincts were always there of course, but their expression became far more pronounced when it became possible, for example, to denounce and stigmatize somebody in a matter of hours, and often for no reason (rumors, bullshit, information taken out of context or motivated humans making shit up, aka., lies, total fabrications).

Of course nobody actually needs a legitimate reason to publicly denounce and condemn others as morally inferior because expressing moral outrage and one's own self-righteousness feel so damn good. There's nothing to be done about this. That's just how the brain works in these cases (Molly Crockett's video above). Social media is designed to create and reinforce tribal behaviors. Those designs keep people coming back for more feel-good stuff, for more dopamine hits, which is very good for business. I was not kidding when I said that human beings are self-defeating fuck-ups in the good old days on DOTE. All this primitive tribal behavior is a case in point.

Jordan Peterson has his twelve rules to live by, but here are thirteen rules you've got to live with 

1. in large, complex modern societies, there exist various sociopolitical groups, each with some associated belief system (ideology)
2. politics is intra-group conflict — in-groups (Us) versus (Them) out-groups
3. all such belief systems necessarily have some grounding in reality but are delusional when looked at as a whole (the belief systems are utopian in some way which conflicts with human nature)
4. such belief systems form the scaffolding upon which the group coheres — it is therefore easy to spot who is and who is not in the group (virtue signaling, dog whistling)
5. for bonafide members of sociopolitical groups, being in good standing and remaining that way within the group are always paramount concerns; otherwise one becomes a stigmatized outcast (a pariah)
6. there is inevitably the flatland sincerity problem — these belief systems are always motivated, though not for the reasons given (the usual post-hoc rationalizations)
7. the actual (unconscious) motivation for those who are or feel dispossessed is the attainment of reinstatement of social power & status; for those in power, the motivation is the maintenance of that power
8. those in out-groups will be (on a scale) viewed unfavorably, stigmatized, despised or, in the most extreme case, dehumanized
9. the straw man argument is common — out-group beliefs are invariably misrepresented by in-groups (those beliefs are distorted, simplified, taken out of context, etc.), with the perceived worst case of out-group moral depravity often taken to stand for the entire ideology
10. there is always guilt by association — for in-groups, mere association with those in out-groups signals, fairly or not, membership in those out-groups or sympathy with them
11. there is over-generalization and contagion — although ideologies necessarily  have some grounding in reality to maintain the appearance of plausibility, in-groups reject all the beliefs of the out-group, and so the baby is often thrown out with the bathwater
12. tribalism obliterates true individuality, nuance and complexity, case by case reasoning and practical solutions to real on-the-ground problems — overgeneralized black & white thinking is always the rule;
13. anything contradicting in-group ideologies must be filtered (see the list of filtering modes in the 4th Flatland essay); concomitantly, in-groups seek out stories or events which reinforce favored narratives (confirmation bias) 

Comments

[Mike Roberts]

Thanks for this, Dave. Though I haven't read Jordan Peterson's book, I suspect your rules to live with render his suggestions pointless, since we can't really fight against this primitive behaviour. (Apart from in rare cases.)

[Brian M]

These are truly excellent, in that sort of, "Well, that sucks." kind of way. ;-)

Aside from a likely high degree of cognitive dissonance, what do you think the impact is of the fact that people are always part of many "in-groups", some with essentially conflicting "norms". Obviously, most people are not aware of these contradictions, as they can probably only place themselves in any one group at any given instance. The rest of the world and all those inconvenient contradictions are probably safely filtered in that context, until the context changes and the filtering needs to change with it.

Anyway, good to read your thoughts.

Be well.

[Jim]

Great stuff. My over-generalized thought is that politics as a whole are about who gets the money. Although, I know there are other important issues for self-interest such as social status and power (point 7). This post puts the matter more completely.

It's why there are so few true 'mavericks' in politics - why it's so rare to see politicians, or even just regular citizens, cross party lines to support an opposing position.

[Mike Roberts]

Yes indeed, Jim, regarding crossing party lines. There was an incredible example here, about 5 years ago. Our local representative in parliament (NZ) had a clear message from his electorate (even including a referendum of sorts) that the people he represented didn't want a local government change that his party was pushing. He didn't cross party lines, though, defending it with something like "it wouldn't have made a difference to the vote". But more incredible (until you think about the in-group mentality) was that he wasn't punished in the next election for ignoring his electorates wishes. Not even a reduced majority. So it doesn't really matter what a member of your group does; the group bond will not be broken.

[Dave Cohen]

At the age of 65, knowing that my life could easily be ruined by something I allegedly did in high school, I am greatly assured that our nation's future is bright.

-- Dave

[Mike Roberts]

Hah! Are you trying to prompt for some comments on the Kavanaugh hearings, Dave?

I have no idea who is right and wrong (though have some private thoughts on how those involved have reacted) but I know the political system is completely messed up when the appointment of a high court judge for life is decided almost strictly along party lines. Isn't a judge supposed to be impartial and objective? I know, that is impossible, as they are, allegedly, human too. But just saying ....

[Dave Cohen]

The Kavanaugh thing is merely another example what I was talking about in the post on a larger scale.

It's all about power, who will have and it and who will not. In that tribal fight, anybody can be destroyed. It's happening every day on social media.

From a different perspective, as Carl Jung observed, everybody has an unacknowledged shadow side in the unconscious -- the stuff which you can't acknowledge, the stuff that gets projected onto others. Kavanaugh has one. Christine Blasie Ford has one. None of these people are believable. Who knows what lies in the unconscious? Not us and certainly not them. Hell, Carl Jung had a big shadow problem too. Some of his behavior was despicable.

We are witnessing the death throes of western civilization (rule of law, due process, freedom of speech and religion, etc.). It was nice while it lasted, but in Flatland the baser instincts will always reassert themselves. Culture is ephemeral. Instincts are forever.

-- Dave

[Mike Cooper]

Great to see you've written a piece again Dave, sorry I was so late to see it.

Agreed, maybe one way to see the times we are living through is that fossil fuel energy has allowed us the luxury of time and resources to override some instinctive behaviours, and now that the party is ending, human behaviours are reverting to type?

[Apneaman]

Related

The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life—A Review

"In their new book, The Elephant in the Brain, authors Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson extend the concept to one the most important and obvious, yet unspoken, facts about the human mind: that we are masters of self-deception, equipped by evolution with an “introspective blind spot” that hides our deeper, selfish motives, even when the same motives are easy to spot in others. The result is an entertaining and insightful book that sheds light on a diverse collection of perplexing human behaviors — from laughter to religion to the origin of language."

https://quillette.com/2018/01/28/elephant-brain-hidden-motives-everyday-life-review/