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How Groups Rarely Encourage Kindness
In the battle of the in-group versus the out-group, no one is going to win. As an individual, you will probably agree with that because you know that humans are interdependent.
We rely on each other for so much in this life. I cannot farm my own food, I do not make my own shoes and I should not diagnose my own illnesses (despite my attempts at trying when on WebMD), among a long list of things I depend on others for.
As an individual, you know that everyone has their own gifts and talents. Everyone can do something exceptional when compared to the rest of the population. And there are so many things we need in this world that everyone has an opportunity to excel at something.
And yet, when we put ourselves in groups and groupthink (the phenomenon where a group’s reasoning lacks uncritical viewpoints and tends towards blind acceptance) sets in, a lot of this logical and experiential knowledge goes right out the door for ideas of victimhood, supremacy or perceived morality.
The research illustrates that people are both good and bad. If you’ve been alive long enough, you knew this already. And again, if someone asked you if people were either good or bad, as an individual, you’d say both. That’s the only honest answer there is.
