Freud showed that small differences between people were heightened, magnified, and weaponized, particularly when these people are actually quite similar or inhabit spaces close to one another; he argued that the more similar or closely related groups of people were, the more likely they would be to amplify their small differences. Freud concluded that this was likely to be reflected in one group’s pathological self-love (narcissism) for itself and its dislike and loathing of ‘the other’ group that was similar but different from one’s own, leading often to violence against the other.
