Talking to “Them”: The Dialectic

What if I was wearing a MAGA hat right now? You know, those red hats worn by the supporters of Donald Trump as part of his campaign to “Make America Great Again”. Maybe you would feel like I was a patriot who cared deeply about restoring the US to our best and most prosperous days. Maybe you would wonder if I was a rioter or supporter of the people who wore those hats to assault the United States Capital on January 6, 2021. Whatever ran through your head would say a lot about what you believe and would set up your reaction to me.

We’ve been working lately on the stuff going on in people’s heads during these tumultuous times. Even as we learn to recognize logical fallacies and how to avoid hyper-apophenia, it supper important to also learn how not to get stuck in our own perspective without being able to listen to the perspective of others.

Check out Michael Grome’s presentation at TEDxYale on “The dialectic life”, where he discusses what goes on inside us when our beliefs are challenged, and why learning to be comfortable with that is a good thing:

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Feature Photo: (cropped from original) By Tyler Merbler from USA – DSC09254-2, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98724489