There are moments when the curious fact that the human race has survived this long seems an unlikely fluke, an accident, an aberration. Such moments can occur on the Interstate when the speed of the traffic exceeds the IQ of most of the drivers. They can occur when a cross section of popular culture is taken on any given night from a random sampling of what is broadcast on our airwaves. Such a moment occurred for me recently when I decided, after a brief hiatus from mainstream news, to get up to date on the tragedy and the controversy of Penn State. How could a species which continues to produce individuals that abuse children have survived so long? What possible positive spin can be taken on a culture which riots when a football coach is fired?
The issue of child abuse by Penn State officials is beyond the scope of this article. The proper place for this issue to be resolved is in the courtroom, not in the feeding frenzy of speculation and hype which now accompanies every newsworthy event. There is no middle path for child abuse. In this author’s opinion, an individual who abuses children is broken and should be thrown away, period. But it is the court which will discover guilt and the law which will determine punishment, not the networks, not the talk shows and not the small talk around the water cooler.
As for the rioting, there is, at least from a scientific perspective, an explanation. We are genetically programmed to identify with groups and we have a predilection towards worship. Humans lived as small groups of hunter-gatherers, clans, tribes and villages for much, much longer than we have lived as nations. Allegiance to a group was a trait necessary for our survival, and when our group was threatened, we defended it. Concurrent with the development of civilization, religion, with its focus on deities and myths, has accompanied us on our long journey and is likely embedded in our genetic code as well. The firing of Penn State’s head coach was, in psychological terms, a threat to a group as well as the mythos which surrounded it. The rioters were responding to impulses as old as humanity itself.
Traits which are advantageous in small groups do not always provide the same benefit for modern civilizations. Our need to attach our social consciousness to something outside our selves can provide support and comradeship, but it can also separate us in ways that lead to conflict. Anyone who has spent an afternoon in Sanford Stadium can understand the powerful emotions and sense of tribal allegiance that such an event can foster. These same traits, however, can also contribute to prejudice, racism and hatred of “the other.” Our propensity for worship can enrich our spiritual lives and provide lasting moments of devotion, but worship of human deities, at its best, wastes hours of life in front of the television following celebrity and at worst, allows tyrants to assume power.
One of the most frustrating examples of in-group blindness can be found in the political arena. In America we are divided and conquered by a two party political system. We are divided by a perception that the differences between what pundits call “liberal” and “conservative” are irreconcilable. We overlook those differences when our allegiance to country is invoked. Defense of that group membership can produce great heroism and sacrifice, but we often forget that nationalism is a trait essential to leading a people to war. In the long history of warfare and despotism, this fact has never been forgotten by those whose only allegiance has been power and profit.
Race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, political party, income, team affiliation, and favorite soft drink are a few examples of the myriad ways we have of separating ourselves from each other. There is nothing “wrong” with allegiance to a group. We are born with that behavioral predisposition. The harm occurs when we lack a self-awareness of what motivates us and when those motivations, necessary for the survival of small groups of people struggling in a challenging environment, are forced into the ill-fitting molds of modern life.
