Thoughts on Us vs Them mentality

Hey there Steem peeps, my name is Jack and I am excited to introduce myself to you for the first time. I have always wanted to write of some sort so I thought to myself what better platform to use than Steemit. Also, as a crypto investor it makes me happy to be supporting a blockchain project. So a little background on me... I am nearly finished with my BA in psychology, I love learning about psychology, philosophy, the world beyond form, things of that nature. Interesting ideas flow through my thought stream every day and I love sharing them with other people in hopes of helping people grow. So, if you like my ideas, throw a upvote , write a comment, tell a friend :) If you don't, feel free to trash talk me, all feedback is appreciated. Enjoy the article. <3

      So today I was scrolling through whisper on my phone, an application where all users are completely anonymous and encourages people to tell secrets, confession, or freely talk about opinions in an open environment. A wonderful idea on paper, and I am not saying that it is a bad app, I find it very interesting and useful sometimes. However the anonymity  also brings out the most toxic and judgmental parts of peoples' personality, which can make for a rather hostile comment section.
     One whisper in the popular section was simply a question that asked people their opinion on how we as a community can end racism. I took it upon myself to comment by broadly replying, "Stop talking about it." I actually got this idea from Morgan Freedman and in some ways it makes sense to me. In response to my comment, someone replied to me in disagreement, which is great, I love to use a friendly debate to sharpen my opinions, although I won't go into to much detail because I do not want racism to be the focus of this article. I am sure you hear enough about that on the news.
      In our debate which went on for a couple hours , I noticed at some points after I stated my opinion, he would say something toxic, which I ignored and kept giving him my reasoning. However, his attitude became worse and worse as he ran out of ammunition to prove my arguments wrong. Then all of a sudden he went off on me, calling me an 'ignorant college kid with no experience and that thinks they know everything' (He knew my age because I have it listed on my profile). I brushed it off and asked him to keep it clean and told him that I wanted to hear why he thought I was wrong. Of course he didn't respond the way I preferred, and continued delivering personal attacks. 
      As I sat their in my chair, my mind clear. I thought to myself, this right here is exactly what fuels racism.

      The catalyst- People assume their ideas as part of their personal identity, or their sense of self. When a person is proven wrong, or believe that their opinion is under threat, it subconsciously activates the fear of death within them. Why? Because since their opinion is being 'attacked' and their subconscious mind thinks they themselves are under attack!(In depth explanation can be read in 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle, an excellent read)

      The division- From here fear instinct takes over and the conscious mind fades into darkness, and where does this lead? The Us vs Them mentality. When set off, the anonymous person I was debating instantly attempts to create a DISTINCTION between him and I, in this case he ignited the young vs old battlefield. 

      This is the sequence the fear based mind used to defend the Self...

                         LABEL "them" >>> express a DISTINCTION (division) >>> prove "THEM" as inferior (victory)

      Division has been an issue since the dawn of our species. Survival/fear instincts are embedded into our DNA, and unfortunately, human civilization has grown civilized exponentially faster than our DNA possibly can. Subconsciously, especially when we have conflicting opinions and ideas than someone, our animal instincts kick in along with that subconscious fear of death, and all of a sudden we need to be superior. In our days as hunter-gatherers, if we came across another band, or even another sapien species, these distinctions lead to battle. Even in recent history we have many cases of genocide for this very same reason.

      On a side note another thing I want to say is that the mainstream media is THE WORST when it comes to debating and personally identifying with a "side". Protect yourself folks, do not indulge in the drama, embrace other opinions and use them to your advantage. 

      "Wars begin in the minds of men, and in those minds, love and compassion would have built the defenses of peace." -U Thant

      Well, this was a though trip that I went on today so i thought i would share. Thank your for your time.