Thread by @BlackSocialists

If we share works from Marx, we’re allegedly Marxists.

If we share works from Bookchin, we’re allegedly Bookchinites.

The Left’s infatuation with categorization/labels takes precedence over nuanced, scientific understanding, and this is at the core of our sectarianism problem.

For a solid grasp on why humans think this way, it is worth taking cues from the field of Human Behavioral Biology.

We‘d like to share some clips from a lecture series provided by Professor Robert Sapolsky at Stanford in 2010.

Here is Sapolsky on why we use categories + labels.

“When you are paying too much attention to categories, you can’t differentiate two facts that fall within the same category.”

“When you put up boundaries, you have trouble seeing how similar things are on either side of it...

When you pay too much attention to boundaries, you don’t see the big picture; all you see are categories.”

“There [are] all these different categories that we can use to explain what’s going on; all of these different buckets... which begin to pull you towards all of the problems we just saw... overemphasizing the importance of the bucket you happen to live inside of.”

The labels we use are merely reference points for more complicated concepts. It becomes more and more clear to us, as we engage with certain individuals, who has peeled back the layers to see who we are + what we represent, and who merely looks for labels whilst holding to dogma.

In order to stay true to the science and dialectics, and not run into the pitfalls of sectarianism, you must step outside of your bucket!

As difficult as this may be, it will place you closer to the truth.

Without the truth, we cannot find real solutions.

#ScientificSocialism