Wife of Israel's interior minister tweets, and deletes, racist joke about President Obama

[Psephos]

66. Haven't read much Eibl-Eibesfeldt I'm guessing.

His book "Love and Hate" would be a good place to start.

Anyway, science says you have it backwards. We come genetically prewired with a predisposition toward identifying in-groups and out-groups. We show extreme loyalty to our in-group, and viciousness toward out-groups. We are blind to the flaws and hypocrisies of our in-group, and treat utterances and actions of the out-group as evil and threatening.

Racism is not taught. It's a genetic relict from tribal times when it conferred a survival advantage. What can be taught is how we have far more in common than in difference, reminding us all at a deep emotional level that we are all members of the same ingroup.

It's a tall order, but at least it's an evidence-based strategy. The current fetish to factionalize and Balkanize racial, political, and religious differences has proven catastrophically unproductive.