1: I am utterly convinced that one of the most challenging complex emotions that we have got to come to grips with as contemporary practitioners (inside & out) is cynicism.
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Replying to @VincentHorn
Unfortunately, cynicism - much like tribalism - is as much a cultural phenomenon as it is a personal one. The question is whether true cultural change happens from the bottom-up or vice versa.
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Replying to @Failed_Buddhist
I’m not so sure there is a top or bottom to change.

I think there are stories that attempt to draw out causal connections, but when it comes to the final relation between personal & cultural it’s always both-and.
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Replying to @VincentHorn
I guess treating culture as separate from the individual is misleading in some sense. Seems to me they're clearly separate and yet clearly inseparable.
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Replying to @Failed_Buddhist @VincentHorn
Alright, now I'm just desultorily confusing myself. Perhaps I was just trying to contribute to the discussion without first clearly figuring out what it is I wanted to contribute.
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Replying to @Failed_Buddhist @VincentHorn
Let's try again. Might it be useful to differentiate between, say, macro-political change, and change in how individuals relate to themselves and others around them on an every-day level?
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Replying to @Failed_Buddhist @VincentHorn
Politics might be more tightly constrained by tribal/ideological forces, while individuals might be more malleable in terms of how they relate to the world on a by-moment experiential level (not saying that's necessarily the case). That's what I mean by top/bottom directionality.
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Replying to @Failed_Buddhist
That’s interesting! What I’ve been finding is that it’s only on that by-moment basis that tribal ideologies can be responded to person-to-person. It takes bravery (and some idiocy & arrogance perhaps) to challenge dehumanizing tribal ideals.
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I agree. Actually weakening tribal tendencies isn't even the hardest part. We're lucky to have practices that can help. The hard part is getting people to see & admit just how deeply rooted tribalism is in all of us. "Me? Tribal? No way! Only people from THAT tribe are tribal!"
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