Lord Frederic Leighton, The Daphnephoria, 1874–1876, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool
Tom Mellors writes in The School of Life – Ambivalence about our herding instincts:
“In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche observes that “for as long as there have been humans, there have also been human herds.” He considers humanity’s long history of obedience and concludes that “everyone on average is born with a need to obey, as a kind of formal conscience that decrees… ‘thou shalt!’”
As we transition from the era of mass media, mass ideas and mass movements, there is still a very human thirst for belonging to a group or a tribe. There is a lively discussion on this subject highlighted by Seth Godin’s books and posts. Essentially while the human need for food, sex and meaning have been clear and monetized, our need to tribalize remained obscure, not explicitly articulated and hence the business opportunity in the fragmented world. People crave to be part of a group, inwardly and outwardly to identify with a tribe, to be lead, may be even to fight with other tribes for dominance.
Given the above and the fact that in the internet age the tribes are no longer location based, given the paradigm shift and the geometric internet multiplier, there seems to be a window of opportunity to exchange the basic human desire into a tangible value. As often is the case with any innovative thinking, the negatives are overlooked or downplayed. But surely there are negatives to a tribal culture:
- conformity of thinking
- potential for manipulation and abuse
- exploitation on the part of a leader
- emotional dependency
- hostility to other tribes and identities
- hostility to internal dissent
- indoctrination and brainwashing
Keep those points in mind while you search for a meaning in belonging.
Further reading: