The world will certainly not come to an end if tribalistic thinking slows down the introduction of the next technologically-enhanced consumer geegaw somewhat.

But we are currently confronted with any number of more substantive problems--serious, thorny, potentially world-changing ones that demand the best and most clear-eyed thinking we can muster.

Unfortunately, at the exact point where the complexity of our challenges demands unprecedented levels of astuteness in our thinking, powerful forces are at work leading us back into some of the most regressive ways of tribalism.