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Tribal - Michael Morris ****

Before I got into popular science books I was a big fan of the really impressive business book - something like, for instance, Maverick, Ricardo Semler's astonishing account of transforming a family business. Now mostly a reader of popular science, I find most business books facile and full of padding - so it was refreshing to read this business-popular science crossover on the nature of our 'tribal' cultural instincts - primarily relating to peers, heroes and ancestors in the broadest sense and how these influence our interactions.

Although in some ways I'd dispute Michael Morris's approach in putting tribalism central - I personally am more inclined to see the way we tell each other stories as central to what he describes, with tribalism just as symptom of that - it is still an engaging hypothesis. Morris gives us plenty of examples from around the world of the benefits that these instincts have brought over the millennia.

Perhaps particularly interesting at a time when American politics has been described as 'toxic tribalism' is Morris's take on this. He starts strongly with a story of sharing a cab with a Republican on the night Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016, emphasising the shock realisation that his own Democrat tribalism was just as much based on poor understanding as was his opponent's Republican equivalent. There is also an attempt to suggest a way to reduce the toxicity by moving from an 'anti-them' approach to a 'pro-us' approach, though this is a little short on practical solutions. 

All in all, I found the book engaging, but part of the reason I consider it a business book crossover is that, unlike a true popular science book it is very shallow in the way it engages with the science, using lots (and lots) of passing references to studies which hardly ever give any detail of what was involved or the science behind them. (I also consider it a business book as it was shortlisted for the FT business book of the year.)

Worryingly, there is not a mention of the replication crisis that has rocked psychology and other soft sciences - not only are many of the studies referenced from the pre-2012 period when it has been suggested around two thirds of studies were useless, Morris even references some that have been specifically debunked.

Because, however, we are presented with quite a shallow take, this is more forgivable than in book with a purer popular science approach. Even though the grounding in academic research may be limited, it's hard not to feel that there is a genuine basis for this concept. I can't entirely forgive the author for ignoring the replication crisis, but this doesn't nullify the engaging nature of the premise.

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Review by Brian Clegg - See all Brian's online articles or subscribe to a weekly email free here
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