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A tribal member, in most primitive societies, is a full-fledged
human being. A citizen of some other tribe, on the other hand, is
usually not. Most primitive tribes, says Mead, feel that if you run
across one of these sub-humans from a rival group in the forest, the
most appropriate thing to do is bludgeon him to death.2
Like white blood cells harmlessly passing each other in the
body's corridors but destroying "foreign" intruders, humans of the
same tribe recognize each other as parts of the same flesh and avoid
hostilities. A body is a collective of cells that have to get along to
survive. A society is a collective of individuals that have to do the
same.
Humans ranging from the most primitive to the most sophisti-
cated form cozy in-groups that assault outsiders, clumping together as
competitive superorganisms.3 This tendency, as we've already seen, is
not limited to human beings. Lewis Thomas has pointed out that even
lethargic-looking sea anemones engage in cold wars. Two seemingly
identical patches of anemones on a rock may appear to live in peaceful
harmony. In reality, however, the colonies edge against each other,
aggressively trying to dislodge the rival community from the rock they
both call home. Like white blood cells and the denizens of the
primitive tribe, the members of each anemonal clump know who's one
of "us" and who is one of "them."4
According to Harvard's E.O. Wilson, xenophobia--the fear and
hatred of interlopers--is universal in higher animals. Wilson explains
that squabbling within a group is minor compared to the snarling,
spitting and raking of claws that occur when group members
encounter an outsider.
Much of the animal communication observed by ethologists, in
fact, seems to have evolved to help one animal tell his killer
companions: "Hey, I'm one of US." For example, calls allow one bird to
tell others he's a part of their flock.5 Some bird societies have even
evolved their own dialects to aid in this purpose.6 Animal markings
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