“Tribalism becomes dangerous when it turns rivals into enemies, when it suppresses diverse thinking, and when it pushes individuals to do things they wouldn’t do on their own.
This type of dangerous tribalism thrives in a sea of disconnected people looking for belonging. And who doesn’t crave belonging these days? We are disconnected from our neighbors, disconnected from nature, disconnected from animals, disconnected from the universe, and disconnected from most things that make us human.
Tribes are the magnet that attracts the metal of our craving to belong. They assure us that we’re right and morally superior. They force us into a different reality where it becomes impossible to see—let alone comprehend—another worldview. We become “the Few, the Proud, the More or Less Constantly Appalled at Everyone Else,” as David Foster Wallace put it.”
Source: Awaken Your Genius: Escape Conformity, Ignite Creativity, and Become Extraordinary
“Over time, the tribal identity becomes our identity. Once identity and tribe fuse, we let our tribe determine what’s appropriate for us to read, watch, say, and think. We pick up social-media cues about what our tribe is thinking, and we toe the line. If our tribe hates Joe Rogan, we hate him too. If our tribe believes that immigrants are destroying our country, we believe it too. We forfeit our voice. We forfeit our choice. That warm, fuzzy, satisfying feeling of belonging trumps everything else—including thinking for ourselves.”
Source: Awaken Your Genius: Escape Conformity, Ignite Creativity, and Become Extraordinary
“Be careful if you find yourself in a place where only acceptable truths are allowed. Taboos are a sign of insecurity. Only fragile castles need to be protected by the highest of walls. The best answers are discovered not by eliminating competing answers, but by engaging with them. And engagement happens in groups built, not on taboos and dogma, but on a foundation that celebrates diverse thinking.”
Source: Awaken Your Genius: Escape Conformity, Ignite Creativity, and Become Extraordinary
“The ego corrupts our mindset in five ways: (a) It chooses what we focus on, (b) it makes what we see all about us, (c) it concludes that all negative experiences are due to a deficiency within ourselves, (d) it
magnifies the relevance of our focus, and (e) it causes us to believe that we can think our way out of a situation that is beyond our control or understand something that is unknowable.”
Source: Mindreader: The New Science of Deciphering What People Really Think, What They Really Want, and Who They Really Are
“If we become attuned to these fallacies, then every time we hear them - every time we hear a person attacked, an emotional appeal made, an idea rejected because it isn't perfect, or a phrase like ''we have only two choices'' - our antennae will go up. This doesn't mean that we should necessarily reject what the person is saying but that we should reason more carefully about the issue before deciding what we believe should be done.”
Source: Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things
“You become increasingly comfortable with madness and not just the madness of others, but your own. We're all crazy, I believe, just in different ways.”
Source: The Silent Patient
“I like it that way. I suffer from agoraphobia and xenophobia.
"I have to be drugged to be put on a spaceship because I can't take all that empty space, even if I'm protected from it by a steel shell."
A look of revulsion came over his face. "And I can't stand aliens!”
Source: In Case of Fire
“We are drawn to this particular profession because we are damaged - we study psychology to heal ourselves. Whether we are prepared to admit this or not is another question.”
Source: The Silent Patient
“But real love is very quiet, very still. It's boring, if seen from the perspective of high drama. Love is deep and calm - and constant.”
Source: The Silent Patient
“Children are gifts. They are not ours for the breaking. They are ours for the making.”
Source: Single Dad Laughing: The Best of Year One