Groups, Tribes or Survival

“My unconscious expectations that are simply assumptions based primarily on foolish prejudice, itself likely the product of a lack of thought and experience.” - Unknown

We humans tend toward socialization and from my perspective I tend to wonder the how and why of such a thing. My reason is that fundamentally I don’t like socialization. It makes me very uncomfortable and drains my energy by a considerable amount until I can get alone and recharge. Social things are stressful for me.

In order to understand how such things work for self-defense it is very good to understand the how and why, mostly the why here, that we humans tend to gravitate toward groupings. It involves, among other things, socialization. 

We gather into groups by instinct. That instinct is about survival. We humans have advantages but mostly not so much when it comes to physical prowess. We are born with no way to defend and protect ourselves so our first exposure to socialization is through the protection we receive from parents, family and the tribe to which they belong. 

Now, it is true we needed tribal connectedness to achieve protection toward survival. Since our early years are spent learning and growing, etc., this is also a time that we, as an individual, are exposed to death in a big way. As to the animal kingdom, humans go through a very long period of prey like exposure that would result in quick death if not for the group, the tribe or societal connectivity. We are most vulnerable during those stages, i.e. say age of birth up to about age twelve to sixteen. Even at those ages our lack of maturity and experience still leaves us vulnerable without that group cohesion.

So, if we need the group for survival then due to the vast differences between each person we have to establish “Rules” to follow for the sole purpose of tribal survival. It takes a tribe like set of rules to control and protect an individual as a part of a whole that is that tribe. It needs to provide a set of rules determining what is right and what is wrong as to actions, etc., within each tribe. The group or tribal rules and laws protects the group thus each individual in that group whereby the end results are a tribal societal fabric strong enough to keep the others at bay and providing strength of the whole toward survival against others. 

The tribe therefore has to create repercussions if rules are violated. In our past that repercussion often was controlled violence against the offender. Look at it in modern times as a “Beat down.” There are a variety of reasons why folks tend to follow the tribal requirements:

First, a rational understanding from an appraisal of the odds of being caught or in survival times being killed or the tribe being anniliated.

Second, a tribal belief system of what is good vs. what is evil. 

Third, an appreciation of the tribal need for social cooperation and harmony often with violence as a tool to keep things balanced.

Fourth, the capacity as humans to think about, and be moved by the feelings, rights, needs, and well-being (safety, security and survival) of the tribe. 

That ability to create and hold a cohesiveness in the tribe is called, “Socialization.” It has been around since man first walked upright in the plains of early history. Our evolvement over the centuries has not dampened that inherent need for social connectivity even if the dangers for tribal survival is “Different” then in those life-and-death early days. In some cases those exact needs are still present and govern how tribes work in this modern world but with more advanced, so to speak, societies the tribal needs are different. Even so, those skills and instincts are still necessary.

Our modern societies has dampened or even hidden the true essence of survival, even now, with violence as both the threat and the controlling mechanism. I feel strongly that ignorance and hiding our heads in the sand in regard to violence is creating a greater threat toward human survival than those survival applications of our ancestors. Our fear of violence along with our human pension of trying to circumvent or avoid altogether violence has opened us to the threat of annihilation by overpopulation, etc. 

Our concerted effort to avoid ugly topics except in very round about ways has opened the door to violence. We cannot hide from such things for they will present themselves at the most inopportune times and maybe this is actually nature’s way of reducing the population by exposing ourselves to the unexpectedness of violence leaving only the strongest survivors (sound familiar). 

Even for me, tribal inter-connectedness, is necessary to survive life in general and even more so when violence is involved. No person is an island is a metaphor that actually applies to reality and life.