The Bible of Tribal

Human beings live in a state of delusion. This is nothing new, and we’ve certainly come a long way since praying to the gods of weather for rain for your crops. But deluded we are. Lots of people are happy with this state. Delusion generates an energy which benefits social interactions. I swim against the current on this: for better, and frequently, for worse. I am continually trying to root out delusion in my own thinking, and seeing it in those around me. This makes me socially awkward, but hopefully pretty clear-minded.

Race is the hot topic at the moment. I find it frustrating, because of all the things we have yet to overcome as barriers to greater consciousness and harmony, squabbling over skin colour is seriously low on the list. I am not disputing racism exists: racist acts occur all the time, all across the world. My concern is that in countries which have all but moved on from it, our national conversations are bogged down by it.

Are there differences between racial groups? Absolutely. Are there clear differences in wealth between racial groups? Yes. Does wealth significantly impact one’s wellbeing? Not proven. Do differences between racial groups prove racism? No. There are clear genetic differences between racial groups, for one thing. If the colour of one’s skin can be inherited, so can the make-up of your muscular system. The majority of elite sprinters are of West African origin, because they possess the highest percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibres. If muscularity is genetic, brain functioning can be too. East Asian students have the highest test scores and highest IQ. This is across the world, in different cultures, with different parents.

The biggest question we need to ask about race differences is not — why are they there? But WHY DOES IT MATTER? Why are we determined to group people by the colour of their skin, which has no usefulness at all? If we’re going to group people at all, I would suggest personality typing. This at least provides insight, and has a good chance of predicting behaviour. Carl Jung’s personality system (later developed into MBTI) asserts that people perceive and make judgements in two different ways: formerly, with our senses and intuition, and latterly, with thinking and feeling. He posited that people have a preferred means of perceiving and judging, and from there described ‘types’. As a predictor of personality, knowing whether someone prefers to perceive with their senses or intuition gives us a lot of information — it affects schooling, career, interaction style, athletic/intellectual ability, choice of romantic partner, political leaning, and much more. Pay attention to that, rather than race, and things become a lot clearer.

If we move onto grouping by personality, however, this is just another dangerously wobbly step up the ladder. Ultimately, we MUST move beyond groups. The only way for humans to make any meaningful progression as a species is to stop finding ways to group each other. Left/right, black/white, male/female, alpha/beta, gay/straight, humans/animals… why do we value these so much? Why are we so afraid of dropping all labels, and treating everyone and their thoughts as personal and individual? It’s a form of fundamental disrespect to someone’s humanity if we fail to see past their ‘group’ — it’s also a failure to humanity as a whole, since it’s a failure of connection.

The biggest grouping we must overcome is us/other. Whether that’s ‘us’ as an individual or part of a wider group, it’s only when we stop valuing this distinction can we truly connect with each other and the wider world. We must try to blur the line, and value oneness over us/other. There are ways to move towards this: meditation and mindfulness are the most direct activities. But mostly it will require self-awareness, and holding back. Understanding one’s emotions and instincts, knowing where they benefit you and when they don’t. Knowing what generates peace, and what generates conflict.

Our tribal instinct to group ourselves is one of our deepest, strongest, oldest. We must think about letting it go.

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