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Just a question, and I know it is completely dependent on culture, do people really believe > Trust me: There is no “them”. I feel like there is constantly a

Just a question, and I know it is completely dependent on culture, do people really believe > Trust me: There is no “them”. I feel like there is constantly a them. The way I interpret it is that you should not modify your behavior based on other people's opinion. Or is it about people who don't matter? How do you know people who don't matter? I have never known from the beginning of a relationship that this person will end up mattering.

__s 7y ago
This one's ambiguous. It may be referring to "they say" "who's they?", or "them" as the invisible enemy. Maybe "them" is illuminati/reptillians/etc. Or maybe he's rejecting non binary gender, who knows Might as well try & say you have a definitive interpretation of the lyrics to "It's Them" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyw_IdBlbKs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyw_IdBlbKs
9wzYQbTYsAIc 7y ago
> In sociology and social psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group_and_out-group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group_and_out-group
- newswasboring 7y ago
  Are you implying that the out group is them? But that will mean that there is no out group, everyone is in the in group and thus we should listen to everyone's opinion and give it credence.
  - 9wzYQbTYsAIc 7y ago
    Correct, “them” is always an out-group. “Us” is always an in-group. Everyone is human, we all bleed red, death is a part of life, and all that. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we should attribute everyone with credibility, however. But we should certainly attribute everyone with humanity. Unless “them” identify as non-human, I guess.
Scarblac 7y ago
I thought it was a warning against an "us vs them" mentality; in the end it turns out that everybody is just another one of us.
wpietri 7y ago
> I feel like there is constantly a them. Sure. We're social primates that evolved in the context of lots of inter-troop and inter-tribe violence. As well as plenty of intra-troop violence, competition, and coalition-building. We are primed to see a "them", because our ancestors not always a little worried about "them" died out. It's like how we're hardwired to see snakes. [1] But as conscious beings, we can choose to indulge the wiring or work against it. Snakes freak a lot of people out, but if they calm down they can appreciate them as cool animals and fellow ecosystem participants. But I think his point here is that beyond the continuous us-vs-them processing we're doing as social primates, there's a deeper truth. That we're all people. We're all connected. We're all, like it or not, in this together. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_detection_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_detection_theory
m463 7y ago
there is "us". I would say the majority of evil in the world is created by dividing people up into US and THEM. Hitler weaponized this idea. I guess he was that kind of leader (not the unite type, the divide type)

__s 7y ago

This one's ambiguous. It may be referring to "they say" "who's they?", or "them" as the invisible enemy. Maybe "them" is illuminati/reptillians/etc. Or maybe he's rejecting non binary gender, who knows Might as well try & say you have a definitive interpretation of the lyrics to "It's Them" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyw_IdBlbKs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyw_IdBlbKs

9wzYQbTYsAIc 7y ago

> In sociology and social psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group_and_out-group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group_and_out-group

newswasboring 7y ago
Are you implying that the out group is them? But that will mean that there is no out group, everyone is in the in group and thus we should listen to everyone's opinion and give it credence.
- 9wzYQbTYsAIc 7y ago
  Correct, “them” is always an out-group. “Us” is always an in-group. Everyone is human, we all bleed red, death is a part of life, and all that. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we should attribute everyone with credibility, however. But we should certainly attribute everyone with humanity. Unless “them” identify as non-human, I guess.

Scarblac 7y ago

I thought it was a warning against an "us vs them" mentality; in the end it turns out that everybody is just another one of us.

wpietri 7y ago

> I feel like there is constantly a them. Sure. We're social primates that evolved in the context of lots of inter-troop and inter-tribe violence. As well as plenty of intra-troop violence, competition, and coalition-building. We are primed to see a "them", because our ancestors not always a little worried about "them" died out. It's like how we're hardwired to see snakes. [1] But as conscious beings, we can choose to indulge the wiring or work against it. Snakes freak a lot of people out, but if they calm down they can appreciate them as cool animals and fellow ecosystem participants. But I think his point here is that beyond the continuous us-vs-them processing we're doing as social primates, there's a deeper truth. That we're all people. We're all connected. We're all, like it or not, in this together. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_detection_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_detection_theory

m463 7y ago

there is "us". I would say the majority of evil in the world is created by dividing people up into US and THEM. Hitler weaponized this idea. I guess he was that kind of leader (not the unite type, the divide type)