Ron Newby - Tribalism: An Existential Threat to Humanity

TRIBALISM

AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO HUMANITY

RON NEWBY

Copyright 2020 Ron Newby.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any meanswhether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronicwithout written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1515-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1516-9 (e)

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 01/10/2020

For Beverly

1
PROLOGUE

By nature man desires to know, and
the object of his desire is truth.

Aristotle (384322 BCE)

I n popular culture , tribal thinking or group thinking refers to the manner of thinking, behaving or responding in accordance to ones social or political groups dogma. It is the echoing of tribal pronouncements and sentiments by loyalists without analytical or rational consideration. Tribalism as used in the context of this book is a compendium of modern human behaviors that are influenced by genetic survival traits of ancient origin. It is these genetic traits that may cause our demise.

The unspoken truth, substantial by peer-reviewed science, is our species remains a tribal species. Our tribal nature was a signifiant factor ensuring we, Homo sapiens, survived over millions of years in a hostile and challenging environment. Many of our ancient genetic traits have been retained by modern humans and these traits threaten our very existence. This is not a novel concept, it just has not been articulated or widely appreciated. This is not a Chicken Little - the sky is falling pronouncement. It is just science.

That tribalism is an existential threat to humanity is not a hyperbole. This is an assertion that some of our ancient genetic survival traits may be the causal agent leading humanity towards dire consequences. This is likely not what you care to know. This may be uncomfortable or contentions to many. However it would be wise to examine and evaluate this assertion in depth.

Behaving in a tribal manner is a great deal more than following the leader. To be clear tribalism is not associated at all with the application of war paint and dancing. It is not used in a pejorative sense. It is far more interesting and complex.

It is too simplistic and dangerous to believe that nurturing, the sum of outside environmental factors, is the sole influence on our behavior. Less recognized as a significant contributor influencing human behavior is our genetic inheritance. These inherited genetic traits, which were beneficial and necessary for our very ancient ancestors are now a detriment for modern humans.

To make the argument that humans remain tribal animals we will examine the history on this planet, paleoanthropology, neuroscience and the genetics of some of our genetic survival traits: fear, aggression, greed, prejudice, creativity, compassion and our morality. These are traits that strengthened tribal unity. Our proclivity for denial and conformational bias as well as our comprehension of reality, truth, free will and memory influences our ability to make decisions.

From a philosophical perspective we shall explore the mechanisms and consequences of climate change, our governing and political persuasions, overpopulation and under regulation.

Humans are extraordinary. Our technological achievements are tributes to our superior intellect. Compassion and generosity are hallmarks of our species. The sciences and the humanities are manifestations of our greatness. However there are quite a few individuals who are racist, deceitful and worse. As a species we have enslaved, tortured, waged war, staged mass killings and now we are playing havoc with the environment. We have retained behaviors, both noble and ignoble.

Considering we are an intelligent species, we still harbor some illusions. Many humans believe we are more than mere animals; that we are a rational species, unlike other species.

We also believe we have free will, complete freedom of choice, and there are no biological constraints upon our behavior. Lovely thoughts; however, the scientific perspective is humans are tribal animals. This notion is not without controversy. Some may disagree as it is perceived as degrading and an affront to ones sensibility. Many believe humans are somehow endowed with a ranking above all the other creatures on this planet. They would argue humans are cultured hence we cant be tribal. Indeed, we humans have progressed well beyond our primate ancestors, well beyond being hunter-gatherers. Nevertheless, science tells us we are tribal animals retaining many ancient genetic survival traits which were of value for our very early ancestors.

We share a biology with all organisms, living and extinct. We are one of over sixteen million species of plants and animals on the Tree of Life, a tree with millions of branches and twigs all inextricably interconnected. Our ancient ancestors moved out of the rainforest onto the savannas of Africa some six million years ago. These early adventurists slowly evolved over thousands of generations into a variety of similar yet distinct species. Our physical traits; strength, courage, our well developed brain as well as our resistance to a myriad of diseases were important factors to our survival. Of all the other similar species only Homo sapiens survived whereas the others disappeared.

There have been over two dozen very closely related ancient relatives of humans, for example Australopithecus afarensis , Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis. However only one species, Homo sapiens, survived. Homo sapiens outwitted, outplayed and outlasted dozens of other hominin species.

What happened to all our other ancient ancestors? Were they just unlucky? Or did H. sapiens outcompete and replace all these other hominin species? The most likely hypothesis is, in addition to our physical attributes, there are behavioral genetic traits likely contributing to our success at the ultimate cost to all the other hominin species.

Hundreds of psychology textbooks and popular newsstand publications offer explanations for human behavior. The usual explanation is nurturing is the decisive factor influencing our behaviors, such as the teachings of our parents or the policeman on the corner. Contemporary science has shown our behavior is greatly influenced by both the combination of genes as well as the environment and culture. Whereas the nurture aspect of human behavior is interesting, it will not be a subject of this book. Our focus will be the other major components to our nature: our inherited genetic behavioral traits. All our genes are inherited directly from our parents who inherited their genes from our ancient ancestors. Many of these ancient genes remain vibrant in humans today.

If you, as a fertilized egg, were to have been removed from your kind and genteel mother and transplanted into a cantankerous, greedy, ego-centric woman, what behavioral characteristics would you have?

Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to our Solar System at 4.37 light-years from the Sun. What useful purpose does this information provide? Can humanity survive without what seems to be arcane knowledge? The intrinsic value of any knowledge may not seem immediately apparent. Knowledge is paramount to understanding humanity. Knowledge can be advanced by analytical observation through an agency, an instrument. A beam of white light passing through a glass prism disperses into a spectrum of colors. White light, which seems to be pure and simple, is actually quite different and complex when examined with a prism. The merits of the dispersed light cannot be judged. It just is. Science will be our prism through which we will explore tribalism as a human genetic trait. Tribal behavior is a part of our nature. It is complex and fascinating.