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I like to philosophy on our heritage as an amateur. I do that - mainly referring to our primitive roots - to try and understand and perhaps accept human behavior that seems disturbing to me.
I do think we have inherited a degree of tribalism genetically from our ancient ancestors, probably from when we were early hunter/gatherers and became social creatures. I would guess those groups were highly suspicious of any outsiders, particularly if they looked or behaved differently - as groups competed for food and security. And, I'm thinking back to times when there was no language, things were very brutal and humans struggled to survive.
If I'm right, then as our children instinctively socialize and identify with a group (as they do in most societies), then that would be when that tribal nature would become a part of their psychology and they may feel suspicion or even fear toward anyone "different".
After that point, then youth may become infused with specific racist tendencies that are learned from parents and peers in their environment. However, as logical and rational adults, we should see the dangers in this and reject that behavior - as most progressives do. Unfortunately, those raised in fearful conservative authoritarian groups usually bypass that phase and become life-long racists.
Just some thoughts to throw your way!......
if we jump in the way back machine, certainly a group would be suspicious of an outside group. but range being a factor, this group coming across another group that LOOKED different wouldn't happened often enough to affect our species genetically. i think. lol.
the still existent tribalism that exists in the Middle East, Northern Africa, and some parts of Europe - and those are peoples very similar in physical appearance.
It is quite an interesting thing to study and helps me to be more accepting of our crazy human condition, LOL....
in my thinking. It is amazing how well humans can get along when survival is at stake. It seem we're mostly at one another's throats only after we gain wealth or power.
In order to understand how we got to his point and why we behave the way we do, we would need a time machine to go back and actually experience how life was - say, 100,000 years ago, and then another at say 10,000 years ago, and so on. Our primitive instincts are still very strong, and sometimes work against us in the modern era as greed, avarice and excess fear step in and distort the original purpose of those instincts.
However, archaeology and anthropology experts are working hard to get us the best snapshots they can and I find their work and progress amazing. We're fortunate here at DU to have members that post good articles in the science section on those topics.
LOL, at 70 years old, I've just learned some things about my personality I wish I had even slightly understood at 17. It's been quite a jigsaw puzzle to build and probably will never be complete.....
Or maybe even a Keto Diet. Getting rid of all those carbohydrates the corporate drug pushers have pushed on us brings on a whole new attitude it feels to me. I kind of being forced on it myself. I contracted MRSA (a form of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection). The low carb diet (that pre-agricultural diet of hunter-gatherers) kind of just stops the stuff in its tracks.
Though it's good for a lot of other things besides that, many medical problems today are caused by the high-carb diet. One of the best things I find about this diet is how it calms down your whole life and gets you clear thinking. It works well whether your young or old and the effects are subtle and you can feel how it's working in about three days
There is a movie called "The Magic Pill" on Netflix or Amazon Prime that blew my mind when I saw how well it worked on a sad little autistic girl. I know this post is a little off the subject but if you can understand how a lot of these neuroses are acquired by our screwed up diets it would make sense on the subject.
At Fifty-nine and mostly an introvert, it figures to me knowing too much about oneself can be perilous (but not to worry it probably can never happen)
learn to fear drinking orange juice after brushing their teeth and babies so dependably learn to fear strangers that it's considered a normal developmental milestone, though why at that age and without any adverse frightening events?
Researchers now know there are strong genetic components to personality, though it's apparently intensely complex, including how they manifest, and there are lots of important questions still to be answered.
And, of course, we already knew there were strong environmental influences. In fact, I believe I'm environmentally disposed to believe people are born with genetic predispositions. My babies were fascinatingly different people from birth, and that one had to listen to "Philadelphia Freedom" instead of "Bridge over Troubled Water" in the womb has always seemed a very incomplete explanation.
our social environment's impact on our behavior. I happen to be in the B.F. Skinner camp. he died before the human genome project was complete. it would have been interesting to hear what he would have made of it.
reactions, triggered by pleasure and pain chemicals, indicates the limits of theorists' comprehension, not of humanity's. That Skinner was mostly right as far as it goes, is pretty much proven. Humans are shaped by biochemical responses to environment, cookies and sticks, some of which have become genetically imprinted as tribal survival traits.
And scientists themselves are pleasurably rewarded by producing theories that gain acceptability with accolades and grants, and punished for failure to.
I'm old enough to remember when many scientists and doctors were claiming that newborns didn't feel pain and even performing surgery without pain control, and to some degree still are. Why I don't know, when any parent or pediatrician who ever directed a diaper pin the wrong direction knew better. (I do suspect that babies make perfect helpless victims is part of it.) But it's a profound illustration of how the personal limitations of some scientists can become accepted mainstream thought that impedes rather than advances understanding.
transferring a huge pile of mulched chips to garden as a present. 
Yes. Our moral and intellectual advances are as real as our need to understand they are in order to continue to advance eagerly and confidently.
Speaking of environmental factors, what would it do for our nation if our people were mostly discussing our dominant triumphs of morality and intellectual reasoning, rather than flagellating ourselves over our losing, but supposedly intractable evils and failures?
