" Understand: The social force is neither positive nor negative. It is simply a physiological part of our nature. Many aspects of this force that developed long ago are quite dangerous in the modern world. For instance, the deep suspicion we tend to feel towards outsiders to our group, and our need to demonize them, evolved among our earliest ancestors because of the tremendous dangers of infectious diseases and the aggressive intentions of rival hunter gatherers. But such group reactions are no longer relevant in the 21st-century. In fact, with our technological prowess, they can be the source of our most violent and genocidal behavior. In general, to the the degree that the social force tends to degrade our ability to think independently and a rationally, we can say it exerts a downward pull into more primitive ways of behaving, unsuited to modern conditions. "

― Robert Greene , The Laws of Human Nature