Critical Thinking: What Causes The Us Vs Them Mentality?

Whether someone is watching the news or browsing a social media site, they can hear about how a certain country is a problem. Alternatively, they could hear about how people who belong to a certain group are a problem.

Then again, they could hear about both of these things. Either way, this will be something that is very black and white; it won’t be unclear what is going on.   

One Solution

Thus, for things to change, something will need to be done about a country or a group of people. It can then be a case of attacking another country or dealing with the people that belong to a certain group.

From this, it will be as though some countries and groups are good and some are bad. One doesn’t need to have a degree in history to know that this way of looking at the world and some of the people in it has led to a lot of suffering and carnage.

It Doesn’t End

Yet, even after a country has been attacked or a group of people have been killed, this hasn’t resulted in their being peace and harmony on earth. Another country and/or group of people have ended up being seen as the problem and the same cycle has played out.

This is something that is only too clear when what is currently taking place in the world is taken into account. Human beings have then become more technologically advanced as time has passed but, in many ways, the same conflicts are being played out.

One Outlook

One way of looking at this would be to say that the in-group, out-group dynamic is just part of human nature. As a result of this, it is not something that can be changed but at the very least, it is something that can be recognised and steps can be taken to make sure that it is kept under control.

This might not completely eradicate the problems that this way of being creates but it is likely to minimise the damage that is done. What this emphasises is the importance of education and the suffering that ignorance causes.

Another Angle

At the same time, what if this is not purely something that is part of human nature? What if it is largely a consequence of what takes place when human beings don’t deal with their own issues?

In other words, what if human beings have both ‘good’ and a ‘bad’ within them and as this is not something that is generally accepted, this ‘bad’ side ends up being externalised? If this is the case, the out-group, irrespective of whether it relates to people who live in another country or a group of people within the same country, will embody what the in-group has disowned within themselves.

Hidden

What this illustrates is that even though someone has disconnected from parts of themselves, it doesn’t mean that these parts will have disappeared. These parts will have been removed from their conscious awareness but they will now be held inside their unconscious mind.

Consequently, the parts of them that they have lost touch with will end up being projected into others. It then won’t be that they are hateful, aggressive, intolerant, entitled and/or greedy, for instance; it will be that those people ‘out there’ are.
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A Defence

Moreover, seeing these people as the embodiment of these elements and themselves as being radically different to them, will help to stop them from coming into contact with the parts of themselves that they have disowned. Still, as they won’t be consciously aware of what is going on, they won’t be able to see the connection.

Their brain will have repressed the parts of themselves that are ‘bad', to enable them to keep it together and function, which will have caused them to be deceived into believing that they are nothing like these people. This is why, if another person was to point out, that they are behaving in a way that is similar to those they have dehumanised, they won’t be able to accept it.

Another Element

It is for this reason that it has been said that human beings don’t see with their eyes; they see with their brain. Therefore, when it comes to if someone can or can’t see something; it depends on what is going on inside them.

Along with their brain blocking out evidence that goes against what they believe, aligning themselves with those who have also blocked out the ‘bad’ parts of themselves will help to stop them from being able to see clearly. Naturally, the more people who have the same views as them, the easier it will be for them to maintain the conviction that they are ‘good’ and in the right and those ‘out there’ are ‘bad’ and in the wrong.
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Final Thoughts

With in mind, a big part of what will allow humanity to work together and get along will be for individuals to embrace their shadow or repressed darkness and gradually integrate this part of them. As more and more people do this and become more integrated, less darkness will be projected into the world and there will be more harmony. 

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk