This is the second part of a series. It begins with Part 1.
From an evolutionary perspective, depression and ennui are highly disadvantageous. Who is more likely to survive and reproduce – a depressed, listless individual, or a happy, energetic individual? It could be argued that depression and ennui are adaptive responses to negative environmental factors, like pain, which cause us to avoid such factors. But my observation is that depressed, listless people usually have no idea as to the cause of their feelings, or what to do to overcome them. I think that it’s more likely to be a spurious emotional response to an environment for which we are not adapted – the post-tribal world. To use a computer metaphor, it is like a program that is given unexpected input – the output is spurious because it hasn’t been programmed for.
The social habitat that we are “programmed” for – for which we evolved – is tribal. What are the characteristics of a tribal environment? It is an environment in which the needs of the individual are balanced against the needs of the tribe. An individual may be called on to sacrifice himself, but only in extreme cases. When in conflict, deciding between the needs of the individual and the tribe is something like an individual deciding which of his own needs to serve. (Do I need food? Shelter? Sleep? Even a lone individual must decide which need to serve!) In other words, the individual doesn’t make strong boundaries between himself and his tribe – he identifies himself with the tribe.
What is the meaning of identification? It means that the individual has expanded his identity. He includes other individuals in his sense of self. When good things happen to these individuals, he is happy. When bad things happen to them, he is sad. We also have another word for identification – love.
Love, however, as they say, is a dangerous thing. Love that is not requited can easily be taken advantage of. Fortunately, love is not an all or nothing thing – it is a more or less thing (it can also be zero – indifference, or negative – hate). A healthy relationship is one where both individuals feel the same way about the other.
The natural social habit of human beings is a group of people with a high degree of mutual identification – a tribe.