My dog is a very solitary animal. To be honest, she's rather disintristed in humans and keeps to herself. She doesn't like to play and is extremely disobedient. There is something that changes this behavior rather drastically, though. Whenever it thunderstorms outside, or if there are loud noises like on the Fourth of July, my dog will follow me, or anyone else, around the house, even into the bathroom! A primal need she doesn't understand tells her, "Danger! Seek others!"
Are humans any different? Of course not. "There's safety in numbers" is an of-used cliche because it's true. We pull together when we are threatened or when there is tragedy. This is a good thing.
But, as we know so well as ex-JWs, groups can be a very bad thing too. Evolution has engineered humans, like it did dogs, to be social creatures. We need others. But, almost invariably, the group becomes more important than the individuals it is supposed to serve. The strength of groups -- cohesion, belongingness, safety, -- are also it's weaknesses. Again, we know this all too well for me to have to explicate further.
Individualism versus communitarianism! Both concepts have their strengths and weaknesses. The individual is nothing without society and an intimate soulmate(s). And yet, the danger is mindless conformity and groupthink. Where is the "golden mean" between the two extremes? Has society at large gone too far one way or the other? Have we as ex-members of an extremest group formed a nasty reaction-formation against the idea of community, or have we traded one cult for another?
B.