Productive Political Discussion: a conversation in which each participant acquires a deeper understanding of the other's point of view, and also of his own. As the conversation becomes productive, we begin to see the points at which our value systems converge, and division yields to unity as it must.
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Hurdle #3: We Rationalize.
We take a stance on a political issue not necessarily because we have all the facts, but because it seems right to us. When facts are presented, we tend to accept those that confirm our position, and reject those that don’t – this is known as confirmation bias. And when we present our opinion, we tend to offer only those facts that support it; in research circles, such a bias is sometimes referred to as “data mining”.
What’s more, we all know that we rationalize. So when our opposition is making their case, we assume they are data mining. That, in turn, makes it easier for us to discount any facts that may damage our own position, which is just our way of rationalizing our confirmation bias. We rationalize our rationalizations.
Hurdle #4: It Ain’t Casual
Finally, when the topic of politics comes up, it’s usually during casual conversation. But the topic is anything but casual. In the casual context, political discourse can appear very misplaced if one is not prepared to deal with it. Because a political conversation is really a matter of my values versus yours, it’s easy to see how things can go quickly awry when our minds are forced to grind out of a casual gear into a serious one.
This list of four hurdles is by no means exhaustive. But it should help make you aware of how the human mind can so easily pull the rug out from under a political discussion. It might further make you realize how important it is to consciously build the skills necessary to contend with these hurdles that, I can assure you, will not disappear.
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