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TRIBAL

                                             December 10, 2006

I often speak of "tribal"
reasoning, using it as a sneer:
this works because we think of          This is probably not
"tribes" as primitive groupings.        fair to actual tribes.
                                        about which I know
                                        very little.

                                             No doubt, "tribal warfare"
                                             happens, but how different
                                             is that from "nationalism",
                                             "chauvanism", etc?


But then, I sometimes use "tribal"
as a positive attribute: tribal           There the overtones of
tattoos, tribal techno, and so on.        "primitive" are regarded
                                          as positive: viceral
   Possibly, this is just the             human, simple, spontaneous.
   usual reversal games:


       Embracing a negative
       (the primitive)
       because you don't
       like the people who          LIGHT_AND_DARKNESS
       don't like it...


Looked at closely, this
usage is a rats nest of
conflicting, dubious
assumptioms...

   I'm unlikely to give up
   the term however... it
   gets across a complex
   of ideas very quickly,
   at least in certain        So this         The assignment
   contexts.                  is just         is noted: think
                              an apology,     about finding
                              I suppose.      some alternates.




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