Mindset Tribes (Long)

Over the following month, each of his four mentors invited Nathan to a key social event. He was slightly intimidated but excited—it gave him a chance to move beyond understanding them as individuals and get to know some of the most important people in their lives. He sensed that meeting their communities would reveal patterns he couldn't detect in one-on-one conversations.

His motorbike became a bridge between tribes, a shuttle between contrasting worlds.

Fisherman:

With eyes bright with joy, Fisherman mentioned that his niece was getting married. “She's as close as a daughter to us,” he said. “Lost her father to the sea when she was only twelve. Come join us—see how we celebrate.”

The stone church had watched over the harbor for two centuries. Nathan slipped into a back pew, immediately struck by the multi-generational tapestry before him—babies held by great-grandmothers, teenagers in their Sunday best, elderly men, proud as peacocks as they looked over their children and grandkids. The welcoming aroma—a soft blend of ocean, forest, and candle wax.

At the harbor reception, when Fisherman rose to toast the newlyweds, weathered faces turned with respectful attention. “A wedding is much more than a romantic day and beautiful photos for the internet.” His voice carried the authority of someone who'd navigated many storms. “Marriage is a celebration of two families merging into one—both in bloodline and traditions.  This day—in children and grandchildren that will hopefully flow from it—will echo down generations, long after we all are gone.”

As the evening unfolded, Nathan was warmly introduced to key people in Fisherman’s life: local villagers, fellow fishers, forest folk, mountain people, riverside residents, and some far-off desert dwellers. In the discussions, he could pick up that they all marveled at the riddles and beauty of nature. Some were exceptionally smart and successful but retained a simplicity of heart and generosity of spirit. All were deeply embedded in their communities and families. Nathan met aunts, brothers, and nephews twice removed.

As his headlight later cut through the moonlit darkness, the engine throbbing beneath him, Nathan realized he had witnessed the opposite of loneliness—generations of being known and knowing, a tapestry of stories and relationships. Moonlight danced on the ocean beside him.

Something else intrigued him. These people seemed comfortable with things they couldn't explain—storms that came without warning, blessings that appeared unforeseen.

 
Scientist:

"Have you ever attended a Doctoral Defense?" Scientist asked. "My friend's daughter will defend her thesis—years of research culminating in a single afternoon." She noticed his hesitating frown. "You'll see brilliant minds sparring as she battles for her place at the academic table."

Three days later, the sterile university conference room buzzed with analytical energy. The candidate stood before stern-faced professors, defending her research on the early detection of pediatric diseases using AI and pattern recognition.

The examiners dissected every claim with surgical precision. "How does your model distinguish symptoms from anomalies?" one asked sharply.

"The model was trained across four pediatric cohorts—two from our neighboring countries.” The candidate pointed to neural network overlays and confidence maps. "We achieved 92% sensitivity across conditions like leukemia, cystic fibrosis, and congenital heart disease."

Scientist leaned forward, eyes bright with professional pride as she whispered to Nathan and her son, "See how she controls for algorithmic noise?"

A committee member frowned. "What about false positives? The implications in pediatrics are significant."

The room felt electric with intellectual combat—higher levels of cognitive brutality than Nathan had expected.

After two hours of grueling questions, the committee withdrew to an adjacent room. When they emerged and announced a successful defense, the atmosphere lifted palpably in controlled celebration.

At the reception, Scientist introduced Nathan to her carefully vetted professional network and friends: accountants, auditors, actuaries, engineers, and CEOs. Busy people; successful people; smart people. Critical thinkers.

The research was on everyone's lips. Drinks in hand, CEOs excitedly dreamed about the possibilities, actuaries estimated probabilities, accountants discussed profitability, and lawyers, patent protection. Calls from children were silenced, and business cards exchanged.

During his journey home, analytical gears kept churning in Nathan's cranium. He analyzed throttle rotation and acceleration, wind direction and fuel economy, ambient temperature and engine performance, road gradient and acceleration curves. Every environmental factor became a variable to isolate and quantify. No moonlight dancing—only data points.

Artist:

"You have to experience it," Artist insisted when he invited Nathan to the  annual arts festival.

Two hours from the city, the sleepy town was transformed into a kaleidoscope of color and sound. Nathan and Artist meandered through crowded streets lined with booths displaying scented oils, silk-printed T-shirts, hand-crafted jewelry, abstract paintings, and sculptures of timber, copper, and silver. 

Street performers danced and theatrical vignettes played out on corner stages. Echoes of strange instruments drifted like incense—ringing, rustling, pulsing, droning—each tone pulling Nathan further into the dreamscape.

Artist thrived in this environment, eyes bright with creative energy. With an easy stride and animated voice, he showed Nathan around. He introduced passing friends with obvious pride: poets, painters, and potters; actors and activists; Greens and Goths.

Warm embraces were shared around generously. Conversations flowed from crystal energy to breathing techniques; from micro-dosing and plant medicine to astrological insights and angels. Strangers became confidants within minutes. 

All views and behaviors were welcome—except the wrong ones.

As he rode home Sunday afternoon, Nathan fully leaned and yielded to the swirls and twists, following the gracious curves of the road through rural hills. The baritone beat below him met pastoral scenes and herbal smells. And he felt one with everything.

Wildlife Researcher:

The final event, three weeks later, was Wildlife Researcher's book launch. As Nathan stopped, he smelled wood smoke. Three fires burned in pits outside the gallery’s towering glass walls.

Inside, Wildlife Researcher held a copy with quiet satisfaction—elephant photography combined with poetry, doubling as a fundraiser for conservation efforts in Africa. 

“Twenty years of work distilled into one evening,” he explained. But more than that. It was about bringing different worlds together. Scientists, artists, donors, activists, marketers. People who might never sit in the same room otherwise, united by something larger than their differences.

The gallery buzzed with an unlikely mixture. Nathan found himself in conversations that wove between Wildlife Researcher's friends quite similar to Fisherman's community, but also academics, artists, and business people. The gathering included most members of his extended family, no matter how different they were from him. His friends with minds similar to his own held radically different opinions about politics, religion, and social issues.

"These photographs capture something science alone cannot," murmured a university professor to a tribal elder visiting from Africa. "The wisdom in that matriarch's eyes—you can measure her age, track her migration patterns, but the depth of her experience..."

"In our tradition," the elder replied respectfully, "we say the elephants carry the memory of the land itself. Your friend's images honor this understanding."

Nearby, a corporate donor engaged seriously with an environmental activist. "I'll admit, I came skeptical about the economics," the businessman said, studying a photograph of a bull elephant. "But these numbers are compelling. Eco-tourism generates more sustainable income than..."

"Than destroying their habitat for short-term gain," the activist finished, but without hostility. "Finally, someone who gets it."

Wildlife Researcher moved through the crowd like a skilled conductor, introducing the professor to the businessman, the activist to the elder. Despite their vastly different backgrounds, Nathan watched them find genuine common ground in their shared concern for these magnificent creatures.

The poetry reading wove together scientific observation with emotional resonance. Wildlife Researcher's words captured both the precise behavior patterns he'd documented and the mysterious majesty that defied measurement.

Nathan was struck by how naturally this diverse group collaborated despite holding different worldviews. They supported a variety of charitable and political causes. Their attitudes toward many issues were miles apart. Yet in their discussions, they were mostly in agreement about technical details while enjoying respectful sparring about implications, interpretations, and approaches.

Nathan met inquirers, searchers, and explorers with more questions than answers. They tried to understand multiple sides of every argument. They yearned for growing clarity in distinguishing right from wrong, but seemed comfortable living with unresolved tensions.

Unlike the other gatherings, this one felt simultaneously passionate and peaceful. People cared deeply about the cause but held their opinions lightly enough to genuinely listen to others.

Reflection

As Nathan rode home through the darkness after the final event, his mind buzzed with observations. Each gathering had felt like entering a completely different world—not just different activities, but different ways of thinking, different values, different approaches to life itself.

Each community had seemed so complete, so self-contained, so convinced of their approach. Yet none of them seemed able to appreciate what the others offered. The passionate creativity of the artists would be dismissed as impractical by the scientists. The rigorous analysis that excited the academics would feel cold and lifeless to the fishing community. The deep traditions that anchored Fisherman's world would seem outdated to the festival crowd.

Nathan found himself wondering: How can such different approaches to life all seem so right within their own worlds, yet so unable to connect with each other? And where do I fit in all of this?

The question would haunt him through the coming weeks, especially as he prepared for what would become the most challenging conversation of his journey.

There is no nobler pleasure than intellectual exchange
with people whose ideas vastly differ from your own—
people deeply acquainted with different parts
of the infinite kingdom of truth.

~ N.P. van Wyk Louw