Michael Morris

You may think the Pope is a wonderful person, but you're also a big fan of Messi and you like the music of Mick Jagger. And so no one of these heroes can dominate you completely. But when you're in a cult and you're not allowed to listen to Mick Jagger, you're not allowed to watch Messi, and it's all day long ceremonies involving the cult leader, that gets dangerous.

You're right. In addition to these sort of social triggers or who you're around or whether you're in a ceremony or you're seeing symbols or you're seeing audiences, particular emotional states also contribute to these things. And so threat tends to be something particularly existential threat, like the, the, the fear of death, a brush with death or the, the fear of collective threat.

You're right. In addition to these sort of social triggers or who you're around or whether you're in a ceremony or you're seeing symbols or you're seeing audiences, particular emotional states also contribute to these things. And so threat tends to be something particularly existential threat, like the, the, the fear of death, a brush with death or the, the fear of collective threat.

You're right. In addition to these sort of social triggers or who you're around or whether you're in a ceremony or you're seeing symbols or you're seeing audiences, particular emotional states also contribute to these things. And so threat tends to be something particularly existential threat, like the, the, the fear of death, a brush with death or the, the fear of collective threat.

Like, you know, there's, there's some sort of threat to your organization or threat to your country that leads people to cling to traditions in ways that they don't do otherwise. So, um, that's, that can be very tricky in terms of setting off dysfunctional traditionalism because, you know, in a corporation when, you know, there's a tendency to, to,

Like, you know, there's, there's some sort of threat to your organization or threat to your country that leads people to cling to traditions in ways that they don't do otherwise. So, um, that's, that can be very tricky in terms of setting off dysfunctional traditionalism because, you know, in a corporation when, you know, there's a tendency to, to,

Like, you know, there's, there's some sort of threat to your organization or threat to your country that leads people to cling to traditions in ways that they don't do otherwise. So, um, that's, that can be very tricky in terms of setting off dysfunctional traditionalism because, you know, in a corporation when, you know, there's a tendency to, to,

think that your own traditions are wonderful and that the competition, that their traditions are silly, but then imagine it's a time of threat, like your business is not doing well. Well, the tribal reflex is to cling to your traditions even more, but that's not adaptive because that's really a time when you want to be learning from the competition. You want to be open-minded.

think that your own traditions are wonderful and that the competition, that their traditions are silly, but then imagine it's a time of threat, like your business is not doing well. Well, the tribal reflex is to cling to your traditions even more, but that's not adaptive because that's really a time when you want to be learning from the competition. You want to be open-minded.

think that your own traditions are wonderful and that the competition, that their traditions are silly, but then imagine it's a time of threat, like your business is not doing well. Well, the tribal reflex is to cling to your traditions even more, but that's not adaptive because that's really a time when you want to be learning from the competition. You want to be open-minded.

Similarly, in warfare, if you're trying to negotiate a peace treaty, but there's like a risk of death because, you know, there's been some killing. Well, that makes it harder for people to, you know, take the perspective of the other side. So threat leads people to anchor on their own traditions, on their own group.

Similarly, in warfare, if you're trying to negotiate a peace treaty, but there's like a risk of death because, you know, there's been some killing. Well, that makes it harder for people to, you know, take the perspective of the other side. So threat leads people to anchor on their own traditions, on their own group.

Similarly, in warfare, if you're trying to negotiate a peace treaty, but there's like a risk of death because, you know, there's been some killing. Well, that makes it harder for people to, you know, take the perspective of the other side. So threat leads people to anchor on their own traditions, on their own group.

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, when COVID happened, a lot of people were dying. But I don't know that it... I don't know that it led to partisan polarization. I do think that in the... We see a lot of tribalism with regard to the Israel-Gaza conflict. The campus that I teach in has been... It's sort of like getting into an airport to get into the main campus because there's been...

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, when COVID happened, a lot of people were dying. But I don't know that it... I don't know that it led to partisan polarization. I do think that in the... We see a lot of tribalism with regard to the Israel-Gaza conflict. The campus that I teach in has been... It's sort of like getting into an airport to get into the main campus because there's been...

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, when COVID happened, a lot of people were dying. But I don't know that it... I don't know that it led to partisan polarization. I do think that in the... We see a lot of tribalism with regard to the Israel-Gaza conflict. The campus that I teach in has been... It's sort of like getting into an airport to get into the main campus because there's been...

protests that were very disruptive. And now there's really strong management of who can enter the campus. And I think that that was a conflict that escalated and became very acrimonious because of the, the brutality of not just that people died, but that people just died in, in a horrible way, both on October 7th and in, in Gaza, you know?

protests that were very disruptive. And now there's really strong management of who can enter the campus. And I think that that was a conflict that escalated and became very acrimonious because of the, the brutality of not just that people died, but that people just died in, in a horrible way, both on October 7th and in, in Gaza, you know?

protests that were very disruptive. And now there's really strong management of who can enter the campus. And I think that that was a conflict that escalated and became very acrimonious because of the, the brutality of not just that people died, but that people just died in, in a horrible way, both on October 7th and in, in Gaza, you know?

So I do think in a case like that, people, people start to, even though their fellow college, you know, fellow college students are, marching and chanting and calling their classmates Nazis. And it's bizarre because, you know, yeah, there is a big problem in the world, but your fellow Columbia undergraduates are not the problem.