Emancipating my tribe

Collectivism is necessary and probably cruel

Collectivist cultures tend to meanness, and paranoia, and spite. To the extent that many subcultures have adopted collectivist modes to work together to lessen the burden of a dominant culture, they (which is to say, we) are likely to be vindictive.

Talheim and co-workers have written at length on collectivism.

Ingroup vigilance Liu et al. (2019).

Pluralism

See pluralism.

Ecologies of communities

DRMacIver: Ladders between communities:

There’s a term of art I use, “communities of last resort”, which basically means communities that will take anyone as long as they can put up with the community. I have in mind places like 4chan, and some of the other forums of that ilk. They’re not good places, but for people who need a community of people who understand them, they’re often the only option, and they’re often surprisingly valuable. I definitely know people for whom 4chan was a positive and formative experience, and many others even more so.

I think what we often need is ladders out of these communities, and people who are from communities in “the next level up” to help people out. Less Wrong has served as this for a lot of people—many people find Less Wrong hugely life improving, partly because they come from a 4chan or Something Awful background, and this is the next community up from that for them and is willing to both tolerate their initial undersocialisation and help them improve their life.

To consider: Communities that have flourished as minorities. Jews, expat Chinese, Mormons, Quakers. Should scientists count there? Rationalists?

Ecosystems of minority communities. de Tocqueville-style meshing subcultures possibly connect here.

Incoming

• If We Value Democracy, We Should Vote on Cultural Norms
• We Don’t Do That Here

References