Humans are tribal creatures and we are all members of various “tribes”. I found this series of essays on the topic to be very enlightening.

Tribalism is not inherently bad

Tribalism is a double edge sword. I will describe all of the pitfalls of tribalism later, but first I want to stress that tribalism can be a net good that brings out the best parts of human nature. Humans would not have come this far without tribalism. It can foster great cooperation and coordination that benefits all members of the group (and sometimes other groups as well). Belonging to a group can promote self-sacrifice, provide meaning, and foster social interactions. The above article says:

Tribalism thus creates some of the most elevated and significant feelings people can experience, and these positive feelings can result in altruistic acts that further benefit fellow group members.

So the concept of “us and them” isn’t a problem – the problem is “us vs. them” when it leads to destructive behavior.

Destructive behaviors promoted by tribalism

When I was a republican, the democrats were always wrong. Now that I’m a democrat, the republicans are always wrong. I am very myopic, and I’m trying to work on that. 

Tribalism can promote the following negative behaviors on the individual level:

• We become biased towards members of our own tribe.
  • We support their rights and freedoms above those outside of the tribe.
  • We trust them more.
  • We hold tribal members to different moral standards.
  • We conceal or rationalize their bad behaviors, while amplifying (or outright fabricating) the bad behaviors outside of our tribe.

• We gain status within the tribe by becoming more extreme.
  • This leads to further polarization across the tribes.

• We filter information in ways that can impair our ability to reason.
  • We may miss out on some important truths.
  • We may embrace destructive lies.

• We look for easy scapegoats to blame for all of our problems.
  • Hitler was able to kill over 6 millions jews by scapegoating them and deeming them less than human. This enabled people to either ignore the holocaust or to enthusiastically participate in it.

When the above happens, tribalism leads to the worst human atrocities. 

How to avoid these behaviors?

Many people have spoken about overcoming tribalism. Last year I attended a conference in which Elizabeth Oldfield was a speaker and her YouTube channel addresses this very question (her accent and sense of humor alone are worth the time).

Try to understand people outside of your tribe

This is much easier to do today than literally at any previous time in recorded history.

• You can eavesdrop on a reddit forum for the other tribe (be careful to pick a moderate forum that discusses issues over name calling).
• I recently learned of a YouTube channel by Peter Santenello where he interviews random people from all walks of life and records their unfiltered words (without adding any spin).

This newfound understanding may not drastically change all of your attitudes, but education is inherently positive and it may either help you to find some common ground or to recognize misinformation when you hear it.

Be careful with social media

Social media companies have learned that it’s easier to drive engagement by showing you content that makes you angry or scared. Hence, their algorithms are designed to amplify toxic tribalism. Furthermore, AI has become much better at creating disinformation that can be tailored to the individual.

While social media can be addictive, we need to realize that it also creates an echo chamber in which we are easily manipulated.

Resist the fear, anger, and hate

To be clear – I think that we all have a civic duty to speak up and to protest when society is not working towards the betterment of all (if “all” only includes your tribe, you may want to analyze why you feel that way).

But this doesn’t mean that we have to engage in destructive behaviors. Jesus had a lot to say about resisting these urges (even if these teachings are often ignored by many modern “christians”):

• Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
• Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
• Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
• Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

In essence, Jesus taught that we should treat everybody as an “us” and to resist the urge to attack others. He also made it clear that our “neighbors” include people outside of their tribe.

You don’t have to believe in Jesus (or any diety) to imagine how much better our society would be if people attempted to practice these principles. And if you are using your scriptures to further drive fear, anger, hate, or violence – you are probably missing the entire point of those scriptures.