I am told, because I do not remember, the first complete sentence I ever said was ‘I’m fed up’ as I was sitting on the bottom of the staircase in one of mum’s many houses. The reason for this being so well remembered by everyone is because it is the exact first sentence my mother is supposed to have said when she was four.
I don’t suppose this should amaze anyone as family members are close and brain connections must be very similar but it does begin to explain a natural tendency for communities to think alike. There are other reasons of course besides tribal ones ; the natural human need to belong, the passive acceptance of customs everyone seems to follow, but relatedness must also play its part. And since we all spring from thirty-six females who walked the earth between twenty-five and sixty thousand years ago we cannot even be certain just how close many of our relationships actually are.
But the fact we all think along similar lines in groups pails to insignificance when we realise that we think we think better than anyone else. That we have the truth they do not have. Seeing as I recently did the mock stoning of a woman during a march I realised that this stoning had nothing to do with moral opprobrium and everything to do with male chauvinism.
Part of the reason we hold our beliefs so strongly is because they give us an air of power. The louder the proponent of a cause the more unsure will be their character. Inclusivity means giving up power to others.