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Showing posts from November, 2020

The Makings of a Political Disagreement

Why does it feel like political discussions never get anywhere? During a political debate at a family dinner with your stubbornly opinionated uncle, have you ever felt like you are just going in circles? Have you noticed how, at those family dinners, no one came out with a different opinion than the one they started with? There are probably many answers to why this happens. I think it comes down to one very specific problem: the all-or-nothing political mindset. When you make an argument with a general theme that someone disagrees with, people with the all-or-nothing political mindset may feel the need to view you as wrong. You, as opposed to your argument which is what they actually disagree with. From this point forward, any further arguments you make, whether correct or incorrect, whether they agree with it or not, already fall into the category of “wrong” in the eyes of this individual. When that happens, any further discourse you try with this person just results in meaningless, o...