{"id":165,"date":"2017-07-11T17:23:45","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T17:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/?p=165"},"modified":"2017-07-11T17:23:45","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T17:23:45","slug":"java-with-joe-mental-habits-that-separate-us-can-also-bring-us-back-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/?p=165","title":{"rendered":"JAVA WITH JOE: MENTAL HABITS THAT SEPARATE US CAN ALSO BRING US BACK TOGETHER"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When the last, seemingly endless, presidential campaign finally came to a close, I think most of us\u2014regardless of our feelings about the results\u2014could at least agree on one thing: \u201cWe\u2019re all glad it\u2019s over!\u201d\u00a0 Most of us were exhausted by the frequently nasty rhetoric that threatened to permanently divide us from friends and family.\u00a0 I assumed, like many, that after the inauguration we\u2019d begin to feel better about each other again.<\/p>\n

Clearly I was wrong. We\u2019re now six months plus into the new administration, and passions remain as high as ever. Sadly, in some cases the nastiness has even turned violent. There is certainly a desire by many for political civility and constructive dialogue in the country today, but the truth is that that goal has never seemed harder to achieve.<\/p>\n

As many people have pointed out, part of the problem is that we can\u2019t even seem to agree on the basic facts involved with any issue. It\u2019s one thing to come at the facts from different perspectives, but if you can\u2019t even agree on what those facts are, there\u2019s not much chance that you\u2019ll engage in anything resembling a constructive dialogue.\u00a0 There was a time when most of us trusted journalists like Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley to give us the facts, but that time is long past.<\/p>\n

Much as I think the term \u201cfake news\u201d is overused, there\u2019s no doubt that some of what passes for news is inaccurate, biased, even just made up. In other words, some of the news that gets pushed our way is indeed \u201cfake,\u201d and I think some of that comes from both ends of the political spectrum. And of course, sometimes even the most well-intentioned journalists make mistakes. They\u2019re under more pressure than ever to get their stories into the ever accelerating news cycle, and that can lead to mistakes.<\/p>\n

The problem is that in the current political climate, stories that are simply not true\u2014whether because of an honest mistake or because of biased intent\u2014those stories all too often get embedded in people\u2019s thinking, even after they\u2019ve been corrected.\u00a0 In other words we can all fall into the trap of believing what we want to believe. It\u2019s almost as if we\u2019re saying, \u201cDon\u2019t bother me with the facts,\u201d which again is not an attitude that\u2019s likely to lead to constructive dialogue.<\/p>\n

It turns out to be pretty easy for any of us to grab hold of a story that just seems to be true, because it supports a position or viewpoint that we already hold. And of course, in today\u2019s fragmented media environment, it\u2019s also easy to find tons of \u201cinformation\u201d that seems to support any case or viewpoint we want to manufacture.<\/p>\n

I certainly don\u2019t have an easy solution to all of this, although I suspect we\u2019d all be better off if we reminded ourselves periodically that \u201cSome stories are just too good to be true.\u201d(My father\u2014who read the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Youngstown Vindicator every day\u2014used to say that all the time.)\u00a0 But I do think that if we really want to engage constructively with our fellow citizens (which of course is a big if), we need to at least try to identify the core assumptions and even biases that we bring to our own thinking. But that\u2019s not easy to do: some things make so much sense to us that it\u2019s hard to look at them and question where the information came from in the first place!\u00a0 We should probably be especially careful when something we read or hear fits seamlessly with what we all believe. Again, some stories are just too good to be true.<\/p>\n

All this being said, there\u2019s a lot to be said for today\u2019s spirited political debates. Our history shows we are not strangers to deep political disagreement.\u00a0 But in today\u2019s divided climate, civil discussions demand that we not only hold high standards of others, but also of ourselves. \u00a0So with that in mind, what if we gave the following steps a try:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Find at least one person whose political and social perspective is different from ours, but who shares a desire to get some constructive dialogue going.<\/li>\n
  2. As we engage in this dialogue, examine our own biases and at least try to identify some set of core facts, ideas, and values on which we can agree. It\u2019s also helpful to at least clarify, acknowledge, and maybe set aside for another day the things on which we agree to disagree.<\/li>\n
  3. Question and make a real effort to verify every easy claim, including (and perhaps especially) those that come from sources we\u2019re most inclined to believe.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Do I think any of this is easy? No. And even if we go through this process of self-examination, will it be easy to change someone else\u2019s position? There\u2019s a ton of research that shows that the answer to that question is also a resounding No.\u00a0 But do I think it\u2019s worth making the effort? Absolutely.<\/p>\n

    That said, here are a couple of interesting points taken from an article<\/a> in the Washington Post last year on \u201cHow to change someone\u2019s mind, according to science\u201d:<\/p>\n

    The research suggests that using specific examples is a big help (in changing someone\u2019s opinion). Successful arguments use the phrases \u201cfor example\u201d [and] \u201cfor instance\u201d more often. <\/em><\/p>\n

    \u2026.hedging \u2013 using language like \u201cit could be the case\u201d \u2013 is actually associated with more persuasive arguments. While hedging can signal a weaker point of view, the researchers say that it can also make an argument easier to accept by softening its tone.<\/em><\/p>\n

    The bottom line for me is that I believe firmly that we\u2019d be better off as individuals, as citizens, as business leaders if we made the effort to engage in a constructive dialogue on the issues that divide us, even though the chances of our changing one another\u2019s minds are limited.\u00a0 Whether it\u2019s in a business, political, or even a personal context, I think we absolutely must do everything we can to communicate with and listen to one another.<\/p>\n

    As always your thoughts and reactions are welcome\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When the last, seemingly endless, presidential campaign finally came to a close, I think most of us—regardless of our feelings about the results—could at least agree on one thing: “We’re all glad it’s over!”  Most of us were exhausted by the frequently nasty rhetoric that threatened to permanently divide us from friends and family.  I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}