"But I'm not sure this survival instinct was ever predicated on "identity.""
Yet "identity" may well be predicated on survival drives. Depending on the location, disapproval of one's behavior by the tribe could be met by ostracization, which would be tantamount to a death sentence. Though sometimes eccentric behavior was seen as special …
"But I'm not sure this survival instinct was ever predicated on "identity.""
Yet "identity" may well be predicated on survival drives. Depending on the location, disapproval of one's behavior by the tribe could be met by ostracization, which would be tantamount to a death sentence. Though sometimes eccentric behavior was seen as special by the community, such as with "two spirit" people.
I wonder what determined the behavior of two tribes meeting for the first time, which could result in co-mingling, war, or mutual avoidance.
Regardless, survival instinct which could be seen as a form of pragmatism, would direct individuals to be congruent with others of their tribe. "Identity" could be the result of trying to the tension between individualist and communal mores. Social animals tend not to do well outside of socially cohesive groups. An exception to this might be humans making a hermit into a special category of human benefitting the tribe with magic or wisdom. They would be fed even though they might not hunt or gather.
Oh shoot, we are getting close to the territory of "nature vs. nurture" territory when we talk about instincts in humans; that is a rabbit hole I would like to avoid for now. The question of "identity" requires enough cogitation. ;-)
(I agree with Steve's assumption that current modern tribes, as differentiated from old-school tribes where cooperation was crucial to survival, have often become toxic in their superficiality.)
"But I'm not sure this survival instinct was ever predicated on "identity.""
Yet "identity" may well be predicated on survival drives. Depending on the location, disapproval of one's behavior by the tribe could be met by ostracization, which would be tantamount to a death sentence. Though sometimes eccentric behavior was seen as special by the community, such as with "two spirit" people.
I wonder what determined the behavior of two tribes meeting for the first time, which could result in co-mingling, war, or mutual avoidance.
Regardless, survival instinct which could be seen as a form of pragmatism, would direct individuals to be congruent with others of their tribe. "Identity" could be the result of trying to the tension between individualist and communal mores. Social animals tend not to do well outside of socially cohesive groups. An exception to this might be humans making a hermit into a special category of human benefitting the tribe with magic or wisdom. They would be fed even though they might not hunt or gather.
Oh shoot, we are getting close to the territory of "nature vs. nurture" territory when we talk about instincts in humans; that is a rabbit hole I would like to avoid for now. The question of "identity" requires enough cogitation. ;-)
(I agree with Steve's assumption that current modern tribes, as differentiated from old-school tribes where cooperation was crucial to survival, have often become toxic in their superficiality.)