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Editorial


Written by Gabe


Hello Readers! This issue is about conflict. Some of us fear it, some of us actively seek it - regardless of your attitude, it is something that surrounds us all.



In these pages, Lucy will guide you through various conflicts occuring around the world and what is causing them, and I will personally talk about how groups influence how we think - after all, the idea of a “good side” and “bad side” is present in all conflicts, regardless of its truthfulness.



Adel will show you how conflict manifests in the world of fashion, and Michal will take a look at how humans fight each other in the sports stadium. If you’re into art, you’ll surely appreciate Oskar’s article, as it shows us some controversies in that field.



Of course, Kaja’s Netflix Tips make a return - this time with spooky October themes, and you can read a new teacher interview by Elen.

US-VERSUS-THEM: The prize of being a social animal


Written by Gabe


“Man is by nature a social animal,” states the Greek thinker, Aristotle, in his work on politics, aptly named Politics. From a modern point of view, he was wrong regarding many things. This isn’t one of them.



We have depended on each other to survive since our first days. The earliest humans traversed the wilderness in bands, as without the support of their kinsmen they would have died a quick and lonely death, be it by injury, predators, or infection. Our ability to cooperate, share ideas and work together in groups is one of our greatest advantages - without it, we would have died out as just another species of ape, unique only in our hairlessness and ability to walk on two legs, and no one would have been here to invent the computer, discover quantum mechanics, write novels, drive cars, oppress their own species in military dictatorships and watch thrilling games of basketball.



This team spirit is not only an amazing strength - it’s also one of our most detrimental, most painful weaknesses. 



Why? We love belonging to collectives. We love it so much that it prevents the entirety of humanity from being one.



Humans have evolved to see themselves and others as members of groups. Eye colour, favourite food, financial status, the brand of clothes somebody wears, language, sexuality, religion, political stance, appearance - anything can be a way to categorise people.



We call groups one considers themselves to be a member of ingroups and groups one doesn’t associate with outgroups



Another thing humans have evolved to do is to discriminate. Us-versus-them mentality is almost as commonplace as groups themselves. It appears everywhere. Atheists versus the religious. Liberals versus conservatives. Israelis versus Palestinians. Natives versus immigrants. Skin colour A versus skin colour B. It has been shown that while we empathise with the misfortunes of those in our ingroup, we commonly exhibit schadenfreude , that is, joy based on others’ suffering, at the pain of outgroup members.



We’re also generally much more altruistic towards our ingroup than to outgroups. Stereotypes are also heavily intertwined with how we perceive outgroups - we attribute specific (often negative) personality traits to members of outgroups, as if they all behaved in the same way.



It has previously been thought that discrimination against outgroups happens as a result of competition or conflict. This probably isn’t true. In 1970, the social psychologist Henri Tajfel conducted a series of experiments on students from a UK state school. The point was rather simple: he wanted to see the way groups influence how people interact with each other.



The experiment went like this: first, he seemingly tested the students on the accuracy of their visual processing, and then assigned them into groups based on their supposed results. The process of group selection was, in reality, random. 



Afterwards, he gave them a task - they were supposed to allocate money to other students, given a choice: either maximise the profit for everyone or just members of their own group. Despite having known each other for years prior, the students observably preferred their own, newly-made group and actively discriminated against the others. 



This shows that people are capable of discrimination against outgroups by simply being divided into groups, without any conflict or competition occuring beforehand.



Another problem brought to us by our preference for collectivism is the concept known as groupthink. Groupthink is a phenomenon that happens when groups of people make irrational decisions, either from a desire for harmony or a fear of disagreement. In situations of groupthink, individuals refrain from stating their actual opinion or doubting the group’s decision, leading to sometimes catastrophic outcomes. It has been shown that simply seeing our group’s label can make us completely reconsider our own opinion - Geoffrey L. Cohen, a Yale University psychologist, conducted four studies, all very similar, on university students. The studies involved presenting the students with either a liberal or conservative welfare policy. If background information about the views of their party was absent, liberals agreed with the liberal one and vice versa. However, simply stating that the students’ preferred party supported the policy, even if untrue, could make liberals support the conservative policy and the other way around. Most participants also denied being influenced by their group, instead saying that the policy agrees with their views. 



All of what I’ve mentioned so far blends into a rather unsavory stew when we enter the arena of conflict and disagreement. Our tribalistic tendency can make us forget what is the actual point of the argument we’ve found ourselves in, and we fight the “enemies” just because we see them as our enemies, instead of various individuals with their own motivations and inner lives. 



I’ve witnessed many instances of this occurring in just my own life, and I suppose that you have too. In extreme cases our bias for favoring our own ingroup even leads to genocide and ethnic cleansing. Sadly, these cases, although extreme, aren’t that uncommon.



On a final note, I would like to ask you to slow down and actually think through your actual position and beliefs every time you get involved in a group dispute, so that you don’t get caught up in one of our greatest evolutionary disadvantages.

SOURCES

Cohen, G. “Party over policy,” Journal of personality and social psychology, 2003. Available at: https://ed.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/party_over_policy.pdf


Emamzadeh, A. “The psychology of ‘us-vs-them’,” Psychology Today, 2019. Available at: 


Everett, J. et co., “Preferences and beliefs in ingroup favoritism,” 2015. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00015/full

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/finding-new-home/201908/the-psychology-us-vs-them


Psychology Today, “Groupthink,”  Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/groupthink


Tajfel, H. “Experiments in intergroup discrimination,” 1970.  Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20191206013420/https://asfranthompson.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/tajfel-1970-experiments-in-intergroup-discrimination.pdf

Travel With Me - Conflicts Around The World


Written by Lucie


You could say we live in a world of peace. And in a way, you wouldn't be wrong, as a lot of countries nowadays remain conflict-free. However, there are still 27 nations that keep fighting due to various reasons. Let me guide you through different types of conflicts and their origins.



Territorial dispute - Turkey


Along with civil war, territorial dispute is the most prevalent type of conflict. It occurs when two or more countries want to occupy a certain area - either land or sea. The Kurdish-Turkish conflict is one of these disputes. In 1984, the Kurds (who comprise nearly ⅕ of Turkey's population), wanted to gain greater cultural and political rights and even establish their own independent Kurdish state. However, since they are a minority, Turkey didn't acknowledge their existence for a long time. Not even TV could air programmes in Kurdish, let alone support any of its leaders. This kind of suppression started 35 years ago and has resulted in 40,000 deaths so far.



PHOTO: AFP



Civil war - Syria


Civil war can be described as a war between entities of the same country. In Syria, it all started with the succession of President Bashar al-Assad, who was repressive. In 2011, demonstrations supporting his resignation began and the country divided with nationwide protests. Consequently, the situation escalated quickly and Syria descended into civil war. Once foreign states got involved and jihadist organizations appeared, it was apparent that this will be a long run. According to data from The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the conflict has taken its toll on over 387 000 people, a third of them being civilians. 



PHOTO: Reuters



Political instability - Venezuela


Venezuela is the perfect example of a country affected by severe political instability. The current president, Nicolás Maduro, is allegedly the one to blame for the economy's downfall, which has led the country into one of the biggest humanitarian emergencies ever, with millions of people unable to access basic healthcare, clean water, and adequate nutrition. An exodus of Venezuelans, caused by the bad political situation, repression, and skyrocketing hyperinflation, along with food and medical shortages, is considered the largest migration crisis in recent Latin American history. 



PHOTO: Instagram Maduro, Nicholas



Transnational terrorism - New York


Unlike other mentioned conflicts, this form of terrorism threatens and targets multiple countries. Some well-known terrorist organizations, such as ISIS and Al-Qaede, have been held responsible for multiple terrorist attacks around the globe, including 9/11, which caused nearly 3000 casualties and left a mark on many people's lives.



PHOTO: Sean Adair/Reuters/CORBIS



Sectarian conflict - Nigeria


'Sectarian' refers to conflicts that are provoked by religious or political issues. For example, Boko Hara, a militant extremist group based in northeastern Nigeria, operating also in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, aims to make Nigeria a completely Muslim country, based on a strict interpretation of the Sharia law. This terrorist organization, which plans to overthrow the Nigerian government, is closely associated with ISIS and Al-Qaede.


​​

PHOTO: Emmanuel Braun, Reuters



Criminal violence - Mexico


According to The Institute of Economics and Peace, Mexico ranked 140th out of 163 countries. In comparison, Czechia ended up in 9th place (TOP 10!). As the evaluation factors included, for example, weapon imports, violent demonstrations, homicide rate, and deaths from internal conflict, it is no surprise Mexico has been given this low position. To clarify, 89 politicians were killed during the campaigning period around the Mexican midterm elections - and this was only one of many similar events. The fact that there is an ongoing 'Mexican Drug War' happening between the Mexican government and local drug cartels doesn’t really help either, since drugs are known to induce aggression. What is also worth mentioning is that this 'war' started in 2006 (15 years ago!) and doesn't seem to be coming to an end anytime soon.




Although we now live in one of the most peaceful eras in history, conflicts are, and unfortunately will continue to be out there. We as individuals can't do a lot, but we can do something. It is enough if we avoid violence and don't incite it. If we treat people with kindness and respect their opinions. If we try to understand them instead of judging right away. It's all about having even just a little sympathy.

SOURCES 

Koop, Avery. “Mapped: Where are the World's Ongoing Conflicts Today?”, https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-where-are-the-worlds-ongoing-conflicts-today/ 


Roth, Kenneth. “World Report 2021: Venezuela / Human Rights Watch”, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/venezuela 


BBC. “Venezuela crisis: How the political situation escalated” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36319877 


History. “September 11 Attacks: Facts, Background & Impact” https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacks   


IEP. “Global Peace Index 2021”

https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GPI-2021-web.pdf 


BBC. “Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group?” 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501 


BBC. “Why has the Syrian war lasted 10 years?” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229 


Český Rozhlas. “Turecko a Kurdové se vracejí ke konfliktu.” 

https://plus.rozhlas.cz/turecko-a-kurdove-se-vraceji-ke-konfliktu-7812978



CFR. “Conflict Between Turkey and Armed Kurdish Groups”

https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-turkey-and-armed-kurdish-groups  

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Our Crew

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something. Fourth issue, Editorial

Editorial

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Groupthink

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Travel with me

something. Fourth issue, Once upon a time in fashion

Once upon a time in fashion

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screaming pope

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