Originally Posted by
Lady Onogaro
The thing about critical thinking is that it can't overcome tribalism.
I disagree somewhat. It can, but it isn't easy. As jar points out, the fact that we don't teach critical thinking exacerbates the problem.
The problem of logic vs emotion, or reason vs rhetoric is not new (and I think that is the crux of the issue rather than 'tribes', although certainly like-minded people tend to group together).
Plato said "I see what is right and do it". Ovid, refuting Plato, said "although I clearly see what is right, my base human nature prevents me from doing it." Mark Twain noted "People do no end of feeling, and mistake it for thinking". Those paraphrased comments differ in age by roughly two millennia, and they're still true today.
Still, we see rational actors break from their 'tribes'. Listen to or read Camille Paglia. She has broken from the tribe of mainstream feminism. Plenty of people on both sides of the political spectrum broke from their 'tribes' in this last election, voting (or not) for the two main candidates.
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