Tribalism - the next mass extinction?

[RubinHighlander]

The more I learn and study tribalism, the more I think it's the root of our social issues with organized religion, nationalism, partisanism and continued bigotry against age, race, sex, orientation, etc. It was the foundation of human reasoning to grow our circle of trust beyond 10 sapiens, by inventing an angry vengeful god who see you when you are alone, therefore motivating you to still choose the right on behalf of the tribe. Later inventing evil unseen beings like Satan who could also play into consequence for bad moral decisions.

Recent studies have shown how the influence of religious believe motivates people to make more moral decisions; so that's a possible positive thing, but it's still within the confines of their tribe and it's still an artificial motivation, usually driven by fear from angering or pleasing a god entity.

Here's some good links from the NPR Hidden Brain program:
https://www.npr.org/2019/05/06/72065627 ... -evolution

Here's a recent post on tribalism by TheraminTrees:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx4GvzjRMx8

So how can I believe this could be a possible mass extinction of sapiens? Well, I'm not a real doomsday prepper type, but I have some to observe that our capitalistic global society operates on a thin layer of ice. There's so much inter-dependency now, between individuals, state and nations for their relatively stable social and economical structures. What do you think would happen if the electrical grid went down for a few months? Could never happen here in the USA right? Did you know the main transformers, the really big ones, are not manufactured here in the US anymore, but are from China and can take months to ship; extra ones are not stocked. I don't know what the current risk is of a cyber or terrorist attach on the grid is, perhaps it's low, but it's one of many points of weakness in the US infrastructure right now. It's old and vulnerable. No electricity, no economy.

How about all that awesome cheap Chinese technology in all of our electronics, even our defense systems and important IT infrastructure? Bit of a panic right now with how much we trust all that Chinese firmware and chips; might be many ghosts in those machines? The cyber wars rage on.

So the tribalism part is continually rears it's ugly head in our political systems - parties can't agree on anything, including spending money in the right places to get our infrastructure updated (electrical grid) and protecting our IP. Political parties continue to deny basic scientific facts, like climate change or human rights issues because of their religious or political affiliation, their loyalty to their tribe. There are not a lot of rational decisions being made in important places. Money makers have their own tribe as well and a few control all the basic life necessity resources and will continue to drive scarcity to their own profit.

So how likely is the next mass extinction to be caused by an asteroid, super volcano, miss use of all the nuclear weapons or just a basic global economic collapse because of instability and the inability of capitalistic political and social systems to make altruistic decisions to fix things now for the future or eliminate scarcity of basic human needs for food, water and shelter; all enabled most efficiently via electricity.

I'm am actually hopeful. Thanks to the Chinese zealously investing in Thorium Salt Reactor research, the US is finally loosening its regulations for companies here to pursue the research as well. Could be our next big jump in cheap and clean power production if they figure it out soon and get us off the fossil fuel. Religion is on the decline here in the US and hopefully the younger generation is really tired of all the BS in Washington enough to vote out all the good old boys.

Just some thoughts for Friday. What are yours?

[Red Ryder]

There’s a lot to digest here.

Without much time I’ll give my quick thoughts. I continue to see the world from a fear based lens due to the media headlines and lack of time to truly research global issues.

I believe that humans are highly adaptable to change given dire needs and that advances of all types come out of tough times.

Could something happen that knocks humanity back 300 years? 500 years? 1000 years?
Maybe. But somehow knowledge would survive and humans out of necessity would figure out how to rebuild and adapt.

I also believe that most technology advances are beneficial to humanity. Modern advances in cars, medical technology, scientific research, etc. The question I think about is where is the saturation point? Cell phones are nice but do we really need 300+ apps on our phones? Sure cable TV is better than network TV, but do we need unlimited content within reach of our cell phones in our pockets? Does Mars exploration benefit the human race? Have we reached saturation on things that are nice but not necessary? Self driving cars?

At some point we will evolve to become idle humans attached to a virtual existence and caught between living a real authentic life and just merely existing. Sort of like sitting in sacrament meeting.

[crossmyheart]

great- thanks a lot!
now I have to go out and stock up on powdered milk and wheat and track down a hand grinder- and ...

Seriously- though- great food for thought.