Interesting: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/large-majorities-dislike-political-correctness/572581/ … “With the exception of the small tribe of devoted conservatives, progressive activists are the most racially homogeneous group in the country.”
Well, it is not just polarization I’m referring to, i.e. beliefs becoming more separated. It’s more specifically the “us vs. them” feeling, where you identify with your party like a sports team, and want them to “win” and the other team to “lose” regardless of policy specifics.
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Right. And there are a lot of ways to express that but "tribalism" isn't actually a useful one. And it really has been thoroughly co-opted by right-wingers who think people not liking them is "uncivil".
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I was specifically not talking about the *idea*, when i called it a tell; i was talking about the *word*. On top of all the other issues with the study, it's pretty clear that they're crypto-rightwingers with an agenda, that's all i was getting at!
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Yeah, I know, and of course whether something is a tell can be orthogonal to its inherent meaning or merit. But I’m curious – do you have a better word? Google’s dictionary suggests “sectarianism”, but that usually refers to religion.
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(Because that’s a good point about the word “tribalism” being based on some negative stereotypes, but I don’t know what else to call it.)
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I mean, the general name for it is "in-group bias" or "in-group favoritism". That's what sociologists & legit social psychologists call it. I mean, i suppose it's imprecise because it's pretty universal that people have SOME in-group favoritism (for some in-group).
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It is true that modern American society demonstrates runaway in-group bias! The causes of that aren't simple, though, and "tribalism" sort of tries to pretend it's explanatory in a way that isn't really helpful even before you get to the negative-stereotype part.
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Hmm… explanatory in what sense? I suppose you could read in a connotation that it’s caused by primitive emotions and is not rational. But I’d say that’s clearly true and, while not the whole story, is somewhat helpful, in that most people overestimate their own rationality.
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Alternately, perhaps a connotation that it’s similar to racial or religious divisions, which also seems to be true as well as potentially helpful.
End of conversation
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