Modern debate teaches arrogance and inflexibility, which is about as conducive to gaining knowledge and understanding as covering one’s eyes is to learning to read. Meaningful debate is when two opposing sides commit to coming to a solution together.
Blog
Political posturing and deteriorating debate
Political debate has become nothing short of a tragic display of showmanship for an audience of one’s peers that has little if any effect on policy. Debate is integral to the function of our democracy, and as long as it is broken, our democracy will suffer.
- Politics
- ...
You might be offended
Ideas are offensive. And it is these offensive ideas that challenge us to change, that inspire us to improve. But we have an obligation to engage respectfully.
- Politics
- ...
Climate change debates
We will never be able to address climate change as a whole society until we humble ourselves enough to accept and discuss different perspectives and engage on the topic rather than shut down debate because of close-mindedness.
Absolute truths in perspective
Truth is a humbling thing. We should all of us seek to know the truth – that search is at the heart of all learning and inquiry – but it requires that we first acknowledge that we may not know the truth and that we may never know it.
The value of different perspectives
The only way that we as individuals can broaden our perspectives, minimize our blind spots, and better understand the world around us is by seeking to understand perspectives that are different from our own, rather than trying to win an argument.
Fear-Mongering 101
Fear is how xenophobia and protectionism can win a presidential election. The problem is that fear-based politics is more pervasive than we think.
Idiocy of ideology
Ideologies are trying to tell us how to think, and in a political climate where it is becoming impossible to differentiate between what is true and what is not, what we need more than ever is a generation of people who can think for themselves.
- Politics
- ...
Refocusing on common values
By refocusing on what unites us, we can reshape politics to be a unifying force in democracy rather than the divisive force that it is today.
Widening the political divide
Rather than trying to unite constituencies around things that unite them, politicians and political aides focus on what divides them.