Cybrpnk's Rantings

As you can tell from the lag since my last posting this one has taken some time to formulate. But I've been thinking long and hard, and I have some conclusions about the sad state of discourse in America today. And I don't mean the media or the politicians. I mean we the people. Everyone who's paying any attention knows that we are a deeply divided country, and it is hard to miss the complete breakdown of civility in political discourse. I'm sure that I am not alone in having found myself in the situation where I was yelling at people who, political differences aside, are dear to me. Yet if I step back and ask myself, is anything being accomplished by such an exchange, clearly the answer is no. Underlying this tension and internecine warfare is, to be brutally honest, personal failing.

If we are truly honest, we must be taking the time to ask ourselves the sort of tough questions that we expect of our scientists. In general these questions start with 'what if' and usually take the form of acknowledging our own limited knowledge, experience, and expertise. What if brutal military repression is the only effective way to stop Al Qaeda and their ilk? What if the market really can solve poverty? What if entitlements really do cause more problems than they solve? What if we are wrong? What then? It's hard to write those, I'm sure it's hard to read them. Admit it, you are unconsciously recoiling from your screen, rejecting even the asking of these questions. But if you cannot ask those questions, you will never be able to have the sort of conversation with a conservative which might change their mind. And if you confront someone with this sort of honesty and openness and they still do not listen to you, nothing else you can do will get through to them.

Give the people you are talking to the courtesy of assuming that they are intelligent and well-informed. Don't ask them questions in a way which comes across as 'why are you so wrong-headed?' Ask them instead 'what can you say to me to persuade me that your view of the world is more correct.' This will, I believe, open the doors to a completely different discussion. By removing the easy resort to belligerence, by being open and accepting, you force candor on the other. And if they are not up to that challenge, cut your losses. Change the subject. Move off of politics. After all, what's the point of having this conversation if there is no chance of either person learning anything? For surely only someone open to learning is ready to have their mind changed. Implicit in all of this is an acknowledgment that we do not know everything. Even more to the point, we can learn from people who have different views from our own. And of course we must be open to having our own minds changed.

Clearly some people that you encounter will not be up to this sort of honest conversation, but we have an obligation to engage different-thinking people in a meaningful way. As long as there is room in our society for real open discussion across the political spectrum there is hope for our democracy.