Them vs Us

The human mind tends to categorise people into social groups. This makes sense if you think back to tribal times when it was beneficial to perceive unfamiliar people as a threat and treat them as such for protection and security. However, we still see a lot of 'them vs us' group thinking going on nowadays which can irrationally and unecessarily divide people. 

I was watching Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-0 the other day when I saw what happened before the match; Liverpool fans all lined up on the streets in crowds, hurling abuse and throwing objects at the Man City coach with the City players and staff inside. To me, this was the epitome of animalistic human 'them vs us' behaviour. 

We are all exposed to group thinking in many different forms. For example, the days we were in school, there were likely to have been different cliques forming within class. In politics, we have different parties to associate with. In sport, it's our team against their team. In war, it's this country against that country. The common factor in all three are that individuals are separated into two or more, different groups. 

Once we are put into a group, it's worryingly easy to become more concerned about conforming to the group we're in, than to think for ourselves as individuals and recognising the interests and values of people outside of our own group. 

Associating with a group is not a bad thing, but if that identity starts to have an negative influence on how you perceive other people in different groups, perhaps it is time to reflect upon yourself and be mindful of what you believe in as an individual.