Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
I was listening to the local Bay Area public radio station when a program about sports and their popularity along with how that pans out economically speaking, since sports seems to be this huge business, when they mentioned traits involved, i.e., “sublimation, tribalism and identity fusion.” That sparked an interest because of self-protection in karate and martial disciplines involving group dynamics. Read on and than we’ll get back to the topic of this article that by the way as you already know and imagine has nothing to do with the program on public radio and that the program merely provided me the inspiration to take this on a different direction.
Sublimation: a defense mechanism that allows us to act out unacceptable impulses by converting these behaviors into a more acceptable form. For example, a person experiencing extreme anger might take up kick-boxing as a means of venting frustration.
Tribalism: Tribalism implies the possession of a strong cultural or ethnic identity that separates one member of a group from the members of another group. Based on strong relations of proximity and kinship, members of a tribe tend to possess a strong feeling of identity.
- The behavior and attitudes that stem from strong loyalty to one’s own tribe or social group.
- Groupthink, mob mentality, tribalism.
- In an ecstasy of excitement and passion, sports fans lose their rationale and logic, and fall into the instinct of us vs. them.
Groupthink: when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment.” Tribalism, blended with groupthink, is a recipe for violence.
Us vs Them: called agnostic behavior in the wild.
Agnostic Behavior: the aggressive behavior includes tests of strength or threat display to make animals look larger or more physically fit, as well as to retain resources or territory.
Ritual Display: animal displays particular signs to avoid the fight, with the intent to bluff their opponent into backing down.
Identity Fusion: a relatively unexplored form of alignment with groups that entails a visceral feeling of oneness with the group. This feeling is associated with unusually porous, highly permeable borders between the personal and social self. The personal self refers to the characteristics that make someone a unique person (e.g., tall, old, intelligent), while the social self pertains to the characteristics that align the person with groups (e.g., American, fraternity brother, student council member, etc.). Fused persons come to regard other group members as “family” and develop strong relational ties to them as well as ties to the collective. Therefore, fused persons are not just bound to the collective; they are tied to the individual members of the collective. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_fusion
Ok, we’re back at the station and ready to take this a bit further. All three of these things describe something you already feel deep down in your bones, your DNA, and that is an evolutionary origin to the survival of humans. That survival looks and feels different along with being labeled and symbolized by modern terminology that in the end, as you imagine from my philosophy on this forum, lead us back to that DNA-like encoding of the lizard brain to survive, prosper and propagate humans that are group oriented to the point that sometimes aggression and violence happen, i.e., both the good and the bad.
Yes, Calvin and Hobbs, there is good aggression and violence and there is bad aggression and violence. That is a statement of fact about humanity and nature.
In the program discussing sports economics and how we as people along some social realities it became clear to me that their importance goes much deeper toward the survival model of which I write about all the time. Take another look at the last one, ‘identity fusion,’ and that helps make some connections regarding group dynamics and know as you already do that such fusion in the sports arena, especially in these supposed less violent modern times, triggers within us some very deep feelings and drives that help influence us into some compliance traits spurred from the collective emotional vibes of sport oriented group dynamics. For me, it explained a lot that I didn’t really get about the draw and drive of sports.
I guess this is why my philosophical and beliefs and drives inspired me to first, join the Marines then second, participate in martial arts and karate that has spanned and influenced by beliefs, perceptions and experiences over a forty-plus span of years.
For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)
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