199 - Picking Sides In Your Everyday Life Is Costing You
When every decision is framed like a war, how can we decide what’s important?
This week we look at the hidden cost of always “choosing sides” in our daily lives. From sports rivalries, political teams, family, work, and religion, everyone wants us to pick sides, and do it quickly. The pressure to declare our allegiance is everywhere. But is all this “picking” really about our preferences? Our identity? Or are outside forces pushing into picking sides, so they can profit off instinct to be “in the right”? What happens when every choice you make becomes another trench in a cultural war you didn’t even sign up for?
We start with the way brands trick us into thinking we must choose a team, even when the stakes are low. Then we discuss how that instinct spills over into friendships, family, and work, where people become more defined by what they’re against than what they’re for. We’ll also look at the psychology of picking sides, and how tribal instincts once meant survival, but now mean constant stress, anxiety, and a shrinking ability to empathize with people outside our group.
Finally, we ask the uncomfortable question—what are we losing by seeing the world in binary terms? Could letting go of sides actually give us more freedom, better relationships, and a less stressful way to live? And how do you step out of the endless cycle of choosing sides, without feeling like you’re betraying your values?
Links:
https://medium.com/swlh/stop-picking-sides-play-the-game-808fcb0c85
https://www.ei-magazine.com/post/the-pitfalls-of-choosing-sides
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.30.3.189
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pop-psych/201501/some-thoughts-side-taking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ck-H8WTdN4&ab_channel=BritishHistoryDocumentaries