Ever catch yourself picking sides just for the sake of the argument?

This tiny social interaction bothers me to this day. It was during the Trump election.  walking into my yoga class a classmate asked if I was at the Bernie rally earlier that day. I replied with a condescending  response, “I didn’t go to business school to vote for a socialist”. The guy disliked me ever since. I don’t blame him. I didn’t even really mean it, it just came out.

What I should have said? “No, how was it?”.

This isn’t to say to not proudly stand your ground. You should. When it matters. But this didn’t matter. What was the point?

This interaction led to me realize something. People love picking sides.

Why did I respond the way I did? I think we/people tend to want to have an opposing viewpoint. Its easy. It came out naturally. It felt right, for a second. Until I reflected.

Its easy, you like vanilla? Well I like chocolate. I’m now team chocolate. All fellow chocolate fans assign together and support one another. I can’t even begin to understand why you like vanilla and not chocolate, you must be inferior. All your other opinions are also wrong.

Extreme right? People did the very same thing with the Trump and Hilary campaign. Political views suddenly assign your entire character.

Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

Why does this happen?

Assigning to a team provides a sense of belonging. People like to feel apart of something. So you pick a side and adopt their core beliefs. Its easy, don’t have an opinion? Just adopt your teams. Now bash the opposition.

People enjoy having the label because it providers an identity. Its safe.

Have your own opinion don’t limit your free thinking by assigning to a team.