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Cultures without a national community tend to be conquered by those with. The Arabic word for this is Asabiyyah and was coined by the historian Ibn Khaldun.

matt4077 9y ago
Making inference from past experiences with a low n, and no relevance to the interconnected modern world, isn't adequate to dress up racism as rational. The English word for this was coined by the physicist Richard Feynman, and it's "Bullshit".
- Bakary 9y ago
  Have you ever wondered why these irrational behaviors are so common? It's not just racism but also overconfidence, aggression, jingoism, ultranationalism, fundamentalism and any number of similar modes of thought. Clearly the fact that they are widespread instincts indicates that while it is irrational at an individual level and is the cause a lot of suffering and injustice, there is a trade-off at the societal level. These trade-offs are also the reason why more liberal Western societies are plagued by a new generation of social ills and inefficiencies. I happen to be an very liberal person but it's easy to see that people sometimes respond poorly to the absence of value or things to believe in, no matter what these values themselves might be. Although the person you replied to did cite a medieval concept, it's still very much relevant in the modern world since we now have to deal with anomie on a large scale. I do hope the liberal modes of thought will prevail however! But if there were no trade-offs they would have won out a long time ago.
  - tremon 9y ago
    > Have you ever wondered why these irrational behaviors are so common? Yes, it's because we have tribal roots: we have spent 99% of our evolutionary lifetime in groups of countable quantities and competing with similar-sized groups. > Clearly the fact that they are widespread instincts indicates [..] there is a trade-off at the societal level. No, it merely indicates that there may have been a positive trade-off for this trait. Assuming that every trait is a net positive now or must have once been a net positive is a naturalistic fallacy. > people sometimes respond poorly to the absence of value or things to believe in Since there are narratives out there that do not paint artificial boundaries (and some do, but do not pursue confrontation because of it), this in no way excuses racism, jingoism, or nationalism.

matt4077 9y ago

Making inference from past experiences with a low n, and no relevance to the interconnected modern world, isn't adequate to dress up racism as rational. The English word for this was coined by the physicist Richard Feynman, and it's "Bullshit".

Bakary 9y ago
Have you ever wondered why these irrational behaviors are so common? It's not just racism but also overconfidence, aggression, jingoism, ultranationalism, fundamentalism and any number of similar modes of thought. Clearly the fact that they are widespread instincts indicates that while it is irrational at an individual level and is the cause a lot of suffering and injustice, there is a trade-off at the societal level. These trade-offs are also the reason why more liberal Western societies are plagued by a new generation of social ills and inefficiencies. I happen to be an very liberal person but it's easy to see that people sometimes respond poorly to the absence of value or things to believe in, no matter what these values themselves might be. Although the person you replied to did cite a medieval concept, it's still very much relevant in the modern world since we now have to deal with anomie on a large scale. I do hope the liberal modes of thought will prevail however! But if there were no trade-offs they would have won out a long time ago.
- tremon 9y ago
  > Have you ever wondered why these irrational behaviors are so common? Yes, it's because we have tribal roots: we have spent 99% of our evolutionary lifetime in groups of countable quantities and competing with similar-sized groups. > Clearly the fact that they are widespread instincts indicates [..] there is a trade-off at the societal level. No, it merely indicates that there may have been a positive trade-off for this trait. Assuming that every trait is a net positive now or must have once been a net positive is a naturalistic fallacy. > people sometimes respond poorly to the absence of value or things to believe in Since there are narratives out there that do not paint artificial boundaries (and some do, but do not pursue confrontation because of it), this in no way excuses racism, jingoism, or nationalism.