Michael Morris

They enable us to cooperate with others so that we can have large scale cooperation and economies of scale.

And they enable continuity across the generations in our communities that allows for a deep feeling of connection with the past and a deep feeling of meaning.

And so I think that the

This trope of toxic tribalism, this idea that humans are hardwired to hate and democracy and international cooperation and pluralism will never work anymore.

I think it's a really pessimistic, fatalistic way of talking.

We are wired as humans to have certain basic motivations.

And one of those is the motivation to belong, to be understood, to be accepted.

And so we have this one instinct that I call the peer instinct that is related to what we call conformity, which makes us

intrinsically rewarded to to mesh with the people around us to feel that we are in agreement with the people around us and that is one of the things that we get from um being a part of a tribe this sense of community and belonging and and understanding

Now, another thing that we get from tribes is related to what I call the hero instinct.

And this is the side of our psychology that makes us driven to make a contribution.

We want to give to the group in some way.

And in part, we want to give to the group because we gain standing.

We gain status.

We gain respect.

And with that comes some tribute.

from the group.

You know, we get social opportunities and we get resources that we wouldn't get otherwise.

And so that's another thing that we get from being part of a church or being part of a corporation or being part of a profession.

Well, they collect in groups, but these groups don't collaborate according to a common plan.