In his book “The Righteous Mind,” moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt writes about “groupishiness,” the innate tendency of humans to lump themselves together based on likes or dislikes, similarities in culture or appearance, hobbies and habits, and more. It’s a different way of saying, “birds of a feather flock together.”
It’s natural and normal to tend to congregate with those with whom you have things in common. It’s how we create social groups and come together for the common good, but it can also cause a problem: that “us vs. them” mindset that divides rather than unites.
When groupishness works together — as when a community comes together to put out sandbags during a flood — it works well, it promotes the health and survival and safety of the many.
When groupishness goes awry, one group begins to attack the other and they both end up damaged or destroyed, or at the very least, missing out on the strengths the “other” side may have to offer.
It’s even worse when one group or both are being fed a steady diet of misinformation that fuels their fear and dislike of the “others.” We’re seeing a lot of that these days.
Let’s try to remember that the people across the aisle, the people on the other side of the mountains, and the people who keep ignorantly sharing conspiracy theories, are all still people, and we have far more in common than the opinions and tropes and personal preferences and magical thinking that keep us apart.
Just a thought.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com