All it takes to arrive at an optimal solution is one guy who is smart enough to come up with the answer. The trick is finding that one guy. Here is where a heterogenous group comes in handy. But once you’ve found that one guy you can send the rest home.

I see it more as a natural trait [affiliation and identity] that manifests itself in allegiance to anything- place, kin, culture/way of life/, class, voluntary group [military, profession, friends], set of moral preferences, and so on. They vary in complicated ways compared to ethnicity, class origin, or time period. Some were long considered baseline, others were options for escape. Now most compete on the same level for our allegiance.

But I find it hard to actually distinguish among them on the basis of reason- reason is a tool, not an end. And the ends are all either instinctive, imposed, or preferential.

As for the rest of Johnson’s point as offered here, I certainly applaud his commitment to race and gender essentialism.

The “fake news” culture is proof. People get confused with too much information, too many choices. They cannot comprehend different possible scenarios, and haven’t learned to differentiate possible fact from possible fiction. They haven’t the skills for evidence exploration.

The “Backfire Effect” is evidence. “Confirmation Bias” is evidence.

Most people can only rely on their biases or prejudices, often instilled by presumed authority, or limited experience and knowledge (or ignorance).

Darwin, in his Descent of Man wrote that “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.” Bertrand Russell wrote “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt”.

The more one thinks they know, often the less they know. And often the less they can comprehend, beyond their highly limited knowledge and cognitive skills.

More and more, people are expected to do solely as they’re told to do.

Authoritarianism breeds authoritarianism. The more people are told what to do, and how to do it, the less their cognitive skills develop.
The less their cognitive skills develop, the less they can make proper judgement.

“Dichotomous Thought” is one of the oldest traits of humans. That is black & white, either/or thinking. It is akin to “tribalism”. You see it in sports, you see it in politics, you see it in the daily thoughts of most people.

It is the primary driver of “in-group” vs “out-group” behavior & psychology.

Most people can merely sort things into mere polar opposites. They can’t imagine the range of often limitless possibilities between those two polar opposites.