The Collective Identity of the Tribe
Several years ago, I attended a Tai Chi seminar in Florida, during which we learned a long and complicated series of movements, called a form. We were in a group of about twenty, all of us novices learning the form. The members of the group were all from different parts of the North America. Few of us had met before. Our only connection was a shared interest in Tai Chi.
Several years ago, I attended a Tai Chi seminar in Florida, during which we learned a long and complicated series of movements, called a form. We were in a group of about twenty, all of us novices learning the form. The members of the group were all from different parts of the North America. Few of us had met before. Our only connection was a shared interest in Tai Chi.
The session was led by a master, demonstrating the movements from atop a park bench. We copied his actions, and from time to time he would come down and make his way among us to check on our progress. What was striking was that as soon as we no longer had the master to follow, everyone in the group would get stuck trying to repeat the sequence at exactly the same point!
Whenever this happened, the master would start us off again, having explained where we had gone wrong. We would dutifully begin again, but stop once more at the same time further on in the form. Initially it's hard to imagine how this could happen: we all learned the form individually, directly from the master, and yet we all failed at exactly the same point. The explanation is that we were acting with a common mind and common purpose. This was the mentality of a herd - even a hive. We may think we are following the master, but the greater influence on us during the learning process is that exerted by the group as a whole.
This is a demonstration of the impact of a group of strangers on each of the individuals within the group. Imagine how much stronger the influence will be for people who spend each day with each other such as one's colleagues at work. The impact will be greater still from people we have known all our lives, such as our family. this effect is no doubt part of our biological programming as a species. There is none of us, regardless of our degree of affinity to groups, who is exempt from this. We can with increased awareness temper its effect, but we cannot escape it altogether. Even the Refusniks, who reject the group altogether, end up defining themselves in relation to the group, albeit in the negative.
There are benefits associated with belonging to a group, but there is also a price to pay. The more a person becomes a part of a tribe the less they are able to function as an individual. They become indistinguishable from the group as a whole, meaning that the group is not a conglomerate of individuals, but an entity in its own right, acting under the strain of collective will.
Tattoos, piercings, uniforms, even hairstyles, all signal our tribal affiliation to those outside as well as those within the tribe. In this regard, there is no difference between the grey pin-striped suit worn by the banker and the gang colors worn on the jacket of a member of a motorcycle club.
We identify with tribes on a subconscious level at all points in our day to day existence. Whenever we meet someone new we immediately assess them in terms of what they wear and how they speak for signs of their tribal affiliation. If we cannot place them, we red-flag them as out of the ordinary, and consign them to that tribe we call the eccentrics. From our understanding of their tribal loyalties we then go on to judge them before we really know them, deciding how we will react to them based on exterior appearance alone.
And so we objectify everyone around us, reducing them to their bare characteristics and capacities and viewing them through the tinted lenses of our tribal prejudices. At the same time, we are aware that they are treating us likewise: just as we objectify them, so they objectify us.
By objectifying others, we are simultaneously objectifying ourselves. In this way, we are distanced from both ourselves and those around us, within and without our tribe. Relationship of course becomes a mere shadow of what it could be. This is the price we must all pay to join the herd. Each of us has to ask the question only we, and we alone, can answer for ourselves: Is it worth it?
Several years ago, I attended a Tai Chi seminar in Florida, during which we learned a long and complicated series of movements, called a form. We were in a group of about twenty, all of us novices learning the form. The members of the group were all from different parts of the North America. Few of us had met before. Our only connection was a shared interest in Tai Chi.
The session was led by a master, demonstrating the movements from atop a park bench. We copied his actions, and from time to time he would come down and make his way among us to check on our progress. What was striking was that as soon as we no longer had the master to follow, everyone in the group would get stuck trying to repeat the sequence at exactly the same point!
Whenever this happened, the master would start us off again, having explained where we had gone wrong. We would dutifully begin again, but stop once more at the same time further on in the form. Initially it's hard to imagine how this could happen: we all learned the form individually, directly from the master, and yet we all failed at exactly the same point. The explanation is that we were acting with a common mind and common purpose. This was the mentality of a herd - even a hive. We may think we are following the master, but the greater influence on us during the learning process is that exerted by the group as a whole.
This is a demonstration of the impact of a group of strangers on each of the individuals within the group. Imagine how much stronger the influence will be for people who spend each day with each other such as one's colleagues at work. The impact will be greater still from people we have known all our lives, such as our family. this effect is no doubt part of our biological programming as a species. There is none of us, regardless of our degree of affinity to groups, who is exempt from this. We can with increased awareness temper its effect, but we cannot escape it altogether. Even the Refusniks, who reject the group altogether, end up defining themselves in relation to the group, albeit in the negative.
There are benefits associated with belonging to a group, but there is also a price to pay. The more a person becomes a part of a tribe the less they are able to function as an individual. They become indistinguishable from the group as a whole, meaning that the group is not a conglomerate of individuals, but an entity in its own right, acting under the strain of collective will.
Tattoos, piercings, uniforms, even hairstyles, all signal our tribal affiliation to those outside as well as those within the tribe. In this regard, there is no difference between the grey pin-striped suit worn by the banker and the gang colors worn on the jacket of a member of a motorcycle club.
We identify with tribes on a subconscious level at all points in our day to day existence. Whenever we meet someone new we immediately assess them in terms of what they wear and how they speak for signs of their tribal affiliation. If we cannot place them, we red-flag them as out of the ordinary, and consign them to that tribe we call the eccentrics. From our understanding of their tribal loyalties we then go on to judge them before we really know them, deciding how we will react to them based on exterior appearance alone.
And so we objectify everyone around us, reducing them to their bare characteristics and capacities and viewing them through the tinted lenses of our tribal prejudices. At the same time, we are aware that they are treating us likewise: just as we objectify them, so they objectify us.
By objectifying others, we are simultaneously objectifying ourselves. In this way, we are distanced from both ourselves and those around us, within and without our tribe. Relationship of course becomes a mere shadow of what it could be. This is the price we must all pay to join the herd. Each of us has to ask the question only we, and we alone, can answer for ourselves: Is it worth it?
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