Tribalism is a boon and also a bane.
It leads to dangerous group-think, dishonesty, and violence. But tribalism also serves a crucial purpose. It’s part of our genetic survival heritage because we can’t survive or thrive outside of a group. This way, tribalism hacks our need for social connection and feeling safe—physically and psychologically.
But an unconscious side effect of this boon of belonging can be savagery and an unnecessary fear-based othering. Like racism, this predisposition is no longer needed to thrive as one humanity. We can easily overcome it, if we care about healing.
So, how do we reap the best of tribalism while not falling victim to its trap? Like racism—which is also hardwired and can be overcome—escaping the pitfalls of tribalism involves honesty, awareness, and compassion. It comes down to nuanced thinking, to the power of both/and thinking and feeling. And undergirding this is emotional regulation and genuine compassion generated by tending to our trauma.
We all feel a connection to some group, either ideologically, culturally, or physically. It’s part of our identity. Yet, when we are conscious of tribalism’s trap, and we have significantly dealt with our pain, we can hold back from emotionally-driven barbarism and othering as knee-jerk, fear-survival reactions. It really does come down to emotional work.
What does this look like? It means caring for all other innocent humans who are just like beneath the surface. And for all other life on Earth, which is often even more innocent than we are! When we don’t pick sides out of fear and ideology, we can also acknowledge—call out and call in—both the faults and fortes of all involved, and feel gut-wrenching compassion for all suffering.
Here’s to consciously hacking tribalism while working with its inevitable hacking of us.
