The echo chamber could also be called the ego chamber. It's a sounding board that reflects back only the words you give voice to. Everything you think and say is repeated back on a continuous loop, reverberating through the halls of the mountain.
An echo chamber is a container you build around yourself to create a safe space. Then, it's filled with like-minded people and kept closed to any outside influence. Beliefs are reinforced, not questioned or even open for discussion. In fact, ideologies are insulated against the cold front of any argument, denial or refutal by other viewpoints, facts or evidence to the contrary.
Participants are able to seek and find confirmation of their existing worldview without encountering any pesky and thought-provoking or dangerous and contradictory opposing views. As they collect more and more information to support their beliefs, they become radicalized, resulting in social polarization, political division and religious extremism. This limits acceptable perspectives to only the approved orthodoxy and completely eliminates any exposure to even the minutest diversity of thought.
The acoustics of the hollow enclosure within a cave or deep valley flanked on both sides by the tall mountain walls, create the perfect conditions for an echo chamber. These safe places that mountains provide also protect the insiders from attack by "the others", leading to cultural tribalism. And while finding your tribe can be beneficial, it can also promote the "othering" of people who don't share the same beliefs or values as the tribe. Eventually, this collectivism creates an exclusionary environment that cancels free-thinking individuals, excommunicates non-compliant members and blocks new membership to people unwilling to convert, conform and consent to the authority of the leader.
When people base their business model on themselves, they tend to create a community of people they refer to as their "tribe". There's nothing wrong with having like-minded people in your life or surrounding yourself with people who share your values. However, when self-serving leaders use these groups to meet their own needs for wealth and power or credibility and celebrity, it can become unhealthy and even abusive.
Social media highlights this tribalism quite well. It's especially evident on the bigger accounts when nearly all of the comments seem to be not just positive, but positively adoring. Even more astounding is seeing followers come to the defense of their idol and attack anyone who dares make a critical or negative comment, calling out the inappropriate, unethical and irresponsible use of their platform to promote made up theories, false ideologies and anti-human agendas.
What I've seen are leaders who use their business to build a community that reinforces their skewed worldview. They find relief from the pain of their own unhealed wounds by attracting other people with the same sad stories of trauma or shame. And with every post, the repeated interactions of their pain bodies results in a self-indulgent pity party of perpetual victimhood. The tribe gathers around their shared "poor me" experiences. Or, they stand on the common ground of a set of ideas that are being promoted or taught by their leader.
That's when the boundaries get established and reinforced with greater and greater vigilance. Then, the boundaries become higher and higher walls, complete with locked gates to keep people out (and in) and watchtowers to warn members of the tribe about the approaching enemy. And eventually they cut themselves off from the rest of the world.
It's the members who have married their personal identity to collective of the tribe who slowly lose their minds and eventually their lives to the cult of whatever ideology recruited and radicalized them. In addition to celebrity authors, popular self help gurus, social justice activists and religious and political leaders, this cult-like behavior is also a key element in network marketing companies and the increasingly nuanced "communities" of self-proclaimed oppressed, marginalized and victimized minority groups.
As with every personal element, the opposite of their needs, values, strengths or personality characteristics is also present in their shadow. It's what Alison Armstrong calls the back side of the hand. For example, Mountain Earth represents infinite abundance. However, when they're out of balance or not getting their essential needs met, this energy can show up as masterful manipulation instead of amazing manifestation and greediness instead of embodying the state of having more than enough to act from a place of generosity.
Mountain Earth elements are the most tolerant and inclusive of The 8 Elements™. Their energy is big enough to provide a welcoming space for everyone, just the way they are. They're also capable of leaving you out in the cold if you ever leave or get kicked out of the tribe. Even after years of friendship and mutual respect, valued relationships will be sacrificed on the altar of "the greater good" of the tribe. Or, simply to save face. Being accepted and included is too valuable to risk being excluded, by associating with anyone outside of the approved of members in good standing.
Much of this way of being is founded in Mountain Earth's completion number. Since they need many others in their physical presence and immediate vicinity, to be complete, they tend to identify with the group, instead of the self. There is safety in numbers. And group think, even when proven inaccurate or even damaging to the members themselves, seems like a safer bet than thinking for yourself and possibly coming to a different conclusion or coming into a new awareness and being rejected for it.
In many cases, tribes are made up of people who haven't done the inner work of knowing who they are and developing themselves first as an individual. They let the tribe tell them who they are and who they should be. Cults are notorious for the various methods they use to evangelize and enroll, brainwash and blackmail, initiate and fully immersed in the tribal culture. Leaving feels like a death sentence, because their entire identity was based in and centered around the tribal rituals and events, dress code and coded language, doctrine and dogmatic teachings.
If you don't know who you would be without your tribe, you might be part of a cult. If finding, gaining membership and being in a tribe is of paramount importance, you might have a group mentality. If seeking the approval of others is always the top priority on your mind, fitting in might take precedence over an intention to be your true self. If you need a tribe to validate your existence by accepting you into their community, you might lack a strong sense of self. And if you're willing to sacrifice your individuality to become a member of a tribe, you may survive the harsh realities of life, but at what cost to you personally?
If you need the feedback loop of an echo chamber to calm your anxious thoughts, you might have a weak ego. A healthy ego allows the individual to be unique, honor their personal needs and develop the confidence to be their authentic selves in any situation. The insecure ego needs the echo chamber to keep them feeling safe in a dangerous world of diverse thoughts and differing opinions.
One of the best ways to find your tribe without losing yourself is to include all of The 8 Elements™. Come together around shared values and create the space for interesting points of view. Contribute to and learn from each other. Honor each other and encourage others to honor themselves. You might lose respect for some people along the way. Just don't forget to show yourself respect on your way back down the mountain slope.
Go to the mountain. Speak the words on your mind. Let them resonate within the secret chambers of your heart first before waiting to hear them being echoed back to you.
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