Community Discussion Board 2

In the essay, "It Takes a Tribe," Berreby explains that humans are always searching to belong. They are searching for a "tribe" to be a part of where people will support them and provide guidance. Berreby says, "people need to belong, to feel a part of 'us'. Yet a sense of 'us' brings with it a sense of 'them'.” (120)

People feel like they need to be a part of a group and want to be guided. People generally don't want to create their own path so if they are in a group they can be told what to do and just follow others. Although, if people didn't follow others or join a tribe then they would feel left out or that they didn't belong, but people try to avoid this at all costs.

Berreby explains that, "a subconscious clue for perceiving a tribe as real and valuable, then, may be expending sweat, tears, and embarrassment to get in." (122) He says people will do anything, such as enduring embarrassment, in order to join a tribe. This just shows how desperate humans are to feel a sense of belonging. In Berreby's essay, Mr. Hayden also gives an example of what people will go through just to feel a sense of belonging in a tribe. He says, "[he went through] a two-day ritual that included being stripped to [his] underpants, pelted with eggs, smeared with red dye, and tied to a campus tree. These humiliations signified [his] rebirth from lowly student journalist to Big Man on Campus." (122) This was his initiation into his tribe and even though it was very embarrassing, he still did it to be in a tribe and feel like he belonged.