Tribe — Sebastian Junger

In researching his groundbreaking book, Tribe, investigative reporter Sebastian Junger found that many soldiers are more satisfied at war than at home. Though on its face this may seem perplexing, Junger learned that while at war soldiers feel a much stronger sense of belonging. “Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it,” he writes.

Author Sebastian Junger, in his book about soldiers who had returned from war, found a similar thing. Despite dealing with post‑traumatic stress disorder, many of the soldiers wanted to return to dangerous warzones. Why? Because at war, they felt part of something, deeply connected to the men and women they were serving with. Junger reflected, “hum

In effect, humans have dragged a body with a long hominid history into an overfed, malnourished, sedentary, sunlight-deficient, sleep-deprived, competitive, inequitable, and socially-isolating environment with dire consequences. Sebastian Junger Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

So every human instinct is honed not for life on your own, but for life like this, in a tribe. Humans need tribes12 as much as bees need a hive.

Human beings can’t help it: we need to belong. One of the most powerful of our survival mechanisms is to be part of a tribe, to contribute to (and take from) a group of like-minded people. We are drawn to leaders and to their ideas, and we can’t resist the rush of belonging and the thrill of the new.