"survival of the individual is dependent on being in a supportive group of people who find your expressed identity congruent or complementary with theirs. So we have in-groups and out-groups"

Yeah, this is true. But I'm not sure this survival instinct was ever predicated on "identity." When we lived in tribes, what mattered was our *behaviour*, no? We helped each other. We made ourselves useful to the group. We lived out our tribal affiliation through action.

I think one of the reasons these tribes have become so toxic is that today, they're based purely on performance and labels. There's no substance. People don't really look out for each other, in fact, they turn on each other as soon as they say the wrong thing. Or even the right thing with the wrong degree of enthusiasm.

I truly feel sorry for the people trapped in these bubbles.