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What is your "in" group?

What is your largest in-group?


  • Total voters
    41

Jasz

Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
276
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
I'm interested in those who branched upwards beyond humans. I am interested how this would play out in priority.

For example, let's say there was a fire in a building, and you could save either a dog you knew and liked, or you could save a human baby. Which one would you save? (if your "in group" goes beyond humans, you should be willing to save the dog you had more connections to, since you have no personal ties to the child.)

Or with science research, with animals being experimented upon in order to implement some great disease cure that would save thousands or even millions of lives. (which, actually, most of our our modern medicine I think was built upon.) Is this immoral? Again, if your group encompasses all animals, human beings have no special significance and are actually committing genocide. Do you think it would be moral to avoid using all medicine and many scientific discoveries for your own benefit in today's day and age, because it was built upon the pain and suffering of innocent animals whom you consider part of your "tribe"? And morally one should not favor part of your tribe (humans) over another (animals).. otherwise your tribe is actually the smaller group you favor.

I am not passing a moral judgment, I am curious to see how consistently one's self-identification with a particular in-group is actually carried out. Are we really part of the in-groups we think we are, or do we behave (in situations where we must prioritize) an inclination to still favor humans who we might not necessarily have a personal tie with?

(If so, then I wouldn't consider the "in" crowd to go beyond human beings.)


thanks jennifer. these matters are what keep bringing me back to all humans as my maximum in-group. i would not hesitate for a second between the child and the dog and i do favor animal testing if that can bring about a cure for human suffering. obviously, in both cases, these are "least-worst" options under the circumstances.

i look forward to responses from the beyond-human-in-group folks!
 

substitute

New member
Joined
May 27, 2007
Messages
4,601
MBTI Type
ENTP
All life, past present and future. Plants, trees, animals, humans, all over the world, all throughout time. Not so much rocks and mud and stuff, but yeah even beetles and fish and stuff.

Smallest would be all life originating within the last 2 or 3 millenia in France, or when I'm in a bad, bad mood, only people in Neustria/Normandy and only up to about 1150AD.

The group I find it easiest to divorce myself from is white humans from 1150 onwards. But I'm aware of exceptions even in that - the Saami, for example.
 

Anonymous

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
605
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w6
maybe you should not limit the group to those you feel directly connected to but those you identify with at a significant level because they share certain traits/ideas/desires with you.

Yeah, that's still difficult, though. Who do I identify with? It used to be my religion until I deconverted. I think it may really be only myself, but I'll have to think about it more.
 

substitute

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May 27, 2007
Messages
4,601
MBTI Type
ENTP
The reason my in group is so all encompassing is because I really do identify with all life, because the way I see it we're all in the same boat - we're all on this planet struggling to survive, all doing what we can, all vulnerable and all pretty much lost and pathetic when all's said and done, and yet somehow it's also all pretty awesome that we exist at all.

Beliefs, races, ideals, morals, values, opinions, customs, traditions... all of those things are very tree-y to me. We're all part of the same wood, maaaan.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,187
MBTI Type
BELF
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594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
T...Beliefs, races, ideals, morals, values, opinions, customs, traditions... all of those things are very tree-y to me. We're all part of the same wood, maaaan.

I'm sorry. :sad: I killed your brother to make a book out of 'im. But I do love books, so it's not like I'll ever forget him. (I hope it was relatively painless when he ran through the pulper.)
 

pocket lint

New member
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
107
MBTI Type
isxp
:) Not sure what my in-group is, but I felt that this quote by Thich Nhat Hanh sums up how I see the world when in a postive state of mind, "Each time you look at a tangerine, you can see deeply into it. You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, it's wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy."

Edit: :blush: This may sound kind of odd, but when I draw something from real life... I usually feel a deep/intimate connection with the object in that moment so I guess I'll put "all objects" as my largest in-group.
 

placebo

New member
Joined
May 11, 2008
Messages
492
MBTI Type
INFP
When I get really positive feeling or when I get quite melancholy, either or, I tend to think something along the lines of 'wow, this is the beauty of being human', but I said my 'in' group was all objects, past present and future, and maybe beyond that... because being human at the same time feels like being just another thing among everything that is the universe.
 

Councilor

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Joined
May 13, 2008
Messages
24
MBTI Type
ISTP
I can trust myself. I can rely on myself. I know what I'm capable of. I know my limits. I am stuck with myself and the processes in my head until the day I die. When it comes down to it, this is all that matters to me.
 

01011010

New member
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
3,916
MBTI Type
INxJ
I'm going to go and say that at my best, my 'in-group' does not include any humans at all. No individuals, anyway -- just the whole of human consciousness. Breaking them down into individuals would ruin it.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I like the way you think.
 

dorareever

New member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
60
MBTI Type
INFP
In my best state of mind: every single thing past present and future. :wubbie:

usually, humanity. and maybe some other mammals.;)

socially. family and few friends

sometimes. just me

when I'm down-no one (not even me).
 
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