Tribeless
Tribal thinking is the root of a fair amount of evil, but it is hard to resist.
Imagine you’re on a week-long trip to a foreign country you’ve never visited before, with a language you not only do not speak or understand, but that you cannot even read. You’re on your own and a bit lonely and lost. After a few days, bored of the room service, you venture into town and spot a suitable-looking restaurant.
The upside of a tribe
There are only a handful of other customers, and as you scan around the place, you notice that one of the guests is reading a current affairs magazine from your home country — the very same one you are carrying. After hesitating briefly, you remember a study by psychologists Gillian Sandstrom and Erica Boothby, which suggests we are far too reluctant to initiate a conversation with unfamiliar people, and you approach the stranger. You inquire whether she (or he — it’s your imagination!) is indeed a compatriot. The reply is affirmative, and you are invited to join the stranger. After exchanging some biographical information, the conversation meanders through numerous topics, none of which really matter, except for one: the shared experience of being adrift, and all of a sudden feeling reconnected and supported. You have found, in each other, someone from your group. You are no longer on…
