    3

    3

    A tribal member, in most primitive societies, is a full-fledged

    human being.  A citizen of some other tribe, on the other hand, is

    usually not.  Most primitive tribes, says Mead, feel that if you run

    across one of these sub-humans from a rival group in the forest, the

    most appropriate thing to do is bludgeon him to death.2

    Like white blood cells harmlessly passing each other in the

    body's corridors but destroying "foreign" intruders, humans of the

    same tribe recognize each other as parts of the same flesh and avoid

    hostilities.  A body is a collective of cells that have to get along to

    survive.  A society is a collective of individuals that have to do the

    same.

    Humans ranging from the most primitive to the most sophisti-

    cated form cozy in-groups that assault outsiders, clumping together as

    competitive superorganisms.3   This tendency, as we've already seen, is

    not limited to human beings.  Lewis Thomas has pointed out that even

    lethargic-looking sea anemones engage in cold wars.  Two seemingly

    identical patches of anemones on a rock may appear to live in peaceful

    harmony.  In reality, however, the colonies edge against each other,

    aggressively trying to dislodge the rival community from the rock they

    both call home.  Like white blood cells and the denizens of the

    primitive tribe, the members of each anemonal clump  know who's one

    of "us" and who is one of "them."4

    According to Harvard's E.O. Wilson, xenophobia--the fear and

    hatred of interlopers--is universal in higher animals.   Wilson explains

    that squabbling within a group is minor compared to the snarling,

    spitting and raking of claws that occur when group members

    encounter an outsider.

    Much of the animal communication observed by ethologists, in

    fact, seems to have evolved to help one animal tell his killer

    companions: "Hey, I'm one of US."  For example, calls allow one bird to

    tell others he's a part of their flock.5  Some bird societies have even

    evolved their own dialects to aid in this purpose.6  Animal markings

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