this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2026
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Leopards Ate My Face
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Humans lived in tribes for millions of years. Tribalism is hard-coded into our brains.
An attack on the tribe is considered an attack on every individual within the tribe. Saying "Trump is racist" is an attack on everyone in the MAGA tribe and makes you an enemy of the tribe. Not someone to be trusted. Someone to fight back against.
Things that are obvious to anyone outside of the tribe won't even be considered by anyone within the tribe. If there's any doubt, the other members of the tribe will tell them "no, we aren't racist, they are the racists!" The obvious thing becomes a lie and rejected.
Even when something impacts your life, you may think "well that was just a mistake" so you can continue feeling happy to be in the "good tribe".
No one is good at questioning these things because we don't want to think of ourselves as not all that much more evolved than apes. So we develop ideologies to paint over how we really think.
Are you able to question your tribe? What are the things that are obvious to anyone not in your tribe that you can't consider?
Whose faces do the leopards you hang out with want to eat?
Thinking fast and slow.
Thinking with a tribal brain is thinking fast.
I think you confused a cult with tribes.
You can be in a tribe and not follow a cult.
MAGA is a cult that demands sacrifice without benefits.
I’m the fellow witchdoctor of my tribe. Would you like some Fentanyl?^rhe^
A cult is just one example of this pattern. Humans in groups will have a tendency to follow the same pattern whether it's a political movement, religion, social media, criminal gangs, workplace department, or even a fandom. The person seen as the leader is not questioned, anyone that asks questions is ostracized, proving loyalty is rewarded. People will knowingly tell lies since that proves loyalty to the tribe. People will pretend to believe the lies since that's also rewarded. With social media it gets really stupid since the reward is usually just a number beside a "like" icon.
When you go along with a lie long enough, you may start to believe it's true.
You're describing herding, which works on many mammals.
This also has a term.
A tribe is just a group. They don't have to herd themselves, cult themselves, or lie to themselves.