December 2016

Our lives play out in ritual.  Virtual pep rallies for our various tribes. Football games, political events, team-building exercises at work – they all serve to reinforce our sense of place within the herd.  Belonging to a team also facilitates the identification of “the other” in whatever realm the team plays in.  The other side isn’t just different, but usually is cast as an existential threat to our squad, or at least to its continued success.  The other soccer team, the other political party, the new company that challenges our business, etc.

All of this is human nature and isn’t going away.  There certainly are positive aspects to these associations that are even necessary.  At the same time, I think its clear that there are downsides too.  The trick for us as a whole society without unnecessary “others,” then, is to harness the power of tribes while minimizing their negative consequences.

On a personal note, as 2016 progressed and tribal instincts and allegiances were ginned up in popular culture, I started to register a general distaste towards some of my more banal tribal affiliations.  Though a lifelong DC sports fan, my interest in NFL football has been on a long and steady decline for many years.  Amidst all of the recent tribesmanship – can we make this the new made-up word of 2016 instead of “post-truth”? – I felt my disconnect with the Washington pro football team on a deeper level.  This tribal association of mine was essentially meaningless, and while its fun to be a fan, the fun is conditioned on reveling in the success of your side while demonizing and praying for the defeat of the other. Interestingly, the NFL had a ratings crisis for the first half of this season as people were turning away from these particular tribal contests.  While my disaffection with excessive fandom has been a long time coming, my sense is that others may have stopped watching football this season because they were getting their tribal fixes elsewhere – namely on cable news and Facebook.  Indeed, the NFL ratings have seen a material increase post-election.

On the political front, I’m not saying that we should shy away from fighting for our positions and strongly held beliefs just because tribalism can be negative.  On the contrary, we should always stand up for our principles, but we need to fight for those ideals and policy points, not for our tribe alone.  I really felt this in the last few weeks before the election, as the reality warping effects of tribalism became apparent.  Who among us didn’t end up with a strong distaste (hate?) for our non-preferred candidate, while also elevating our preferred choice to a higher place in our minds than maybe they deserved to be?  These tribalistic emotions and responses, writ large, are part of what made it possible for the non-word “post-truth” to become the Oxford Dictionary word of the year.  And its a lesson in how tribalism can override basic truth and reason, and make uncertain times even more dangerous.

So, what to do?  I’m not suggesting that people abandon their beloved sports teams en masse, although I think it might be useful to reduce excessive and unnecessary tribalism in our lives where possible.  Given that the unofficial theme of this blog is travel and adventure though, its perhaps not surprising that my answer is that we all need to get out more.  And that certainly goes for me as well. There is nothing like realizing that your way of doing things is not the only way of doing things.  And that seems to be the consistent revelation in traveling and in getting to know other people and places.  People are essentially provincial, which may be partly because of tribalism or the other way around.  Whichever chicken part came first, though, the end result is that we end up in our own spheres and echo chambers too often, whether that bubble is based on our zip code or the monolithic nature of our Facebook feeds.  But the good news is that Facebook’s algorithms don’t control what we do and what we see out in the real world – at least not yet.

And with that, I leave you with the lyrics from what heretofore had been one of my least favorite Beatles songs, Within You Without You, which I began to consider in a new light recently as the above themes marinated.

We were talking, about the space between us all
And the people, who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth, then it’s far too late when they pass away

We were talking, about the love we all could share
When we find it, to try our best to hold it there, with our love
With our love we could save the world, if they only knew

Try to realize it’s all within yourself, no-one else can make you change
And to see you’re really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking, about the love that’s gone so cold
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul
They don’t know, they can’t see, are you one of them?

When you’ve seen beyond yourself
Then you may find peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we’re all one
And life flows on within you and without you.