Us Them

"The tendency for one group of people to go to war with another group is deeply ingrained in human nature, as evolutionary psychology recognises. As a species, humans evolved in cooperative groups (extended families). Loyalty to the group was essential for survival because the scarcity of resources meant that one group would often get what it needed at the expense of another group, inevitably leading to conflict. We have all heard of the term ‘us and them’ and instinctively understand the concept of in-groups and out-groups.\n\nNotwithstanding these evolutionary factors, it can be strongly argued that people today need to be able to transcend these ancient patterns of behaviour, these instincts, by using our more recently evolved rational minds. Much of this book focuses on just this point. Realistically, instincts can never be gotten rid of or repressed; they can only be transcended or over-ridden by logic. One strategy is to transcend the ‘us and them’ mind-set that makes us see ‘them’ as sub-human and so be able to kill them in good conscience, with the more enlightened attitude that ‘us and them’ in the modern world is an illusion. We are all one species, all essentially the same under the skin, all of us members of the one big human family. If we widen our ‘circle of care’ as the other Peter Singer (from Princeton) suggests, from our immediate family to include an ever-widening circle of people in the world, then we will naturally come to act more compassionately towards everyone, not just our immediate family.\n\nAnother strategy is put forward by Robert Wright in his 2001 book Nonzero: the logic of human destiny. He makes the compelling point that we are less likely to want to go to war against someone if we have an economic connection with them, such that by harming them, we harm ourselves. It does not make sense to hurt our own interests. The global economy in the 21st century is a single interconnected entity. We can no longer act in isolation. The consequences of our actions are transmitted everywhere.\n\nWright quotes Charles Darwin to good effect: ‘As man advances in civilization, and small tribes are united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell everyone that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races.’ ― Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man. Wright’s and Darwin’s perspectives can help us to transcend the ‘us and them’ mentality that has kept humanity perpetually at war throughout our blood-stained history. It will take a long time for the world to change because there is immense inertia built-up in the system, but the observable trend suggests that the change will come in time. Perhaps not soon enough for some but come it will."