Why is it so hard to disagree?

Issue 159: How to have conversations across divides: Lessons from a psychologist, a neuroscientist, and a political scientist.

Why is it so hard to disagree?

I spent the day at a fantastic conference on discourse and democracy at the The University of Texas at Austin on was on a panel about how to have better conversations across political and intergroup divides.

The panel consisted of a psychologist (myself), a neuroscientist (Mina Cikara), and a political scientist (Matthew Levendusky), and was moderated by an expert in social conflict and prosocial behavior (Marlone Henderson). We took turns answering questions from the moderator and the audience as we grappled with the challenges of how to disagree in a diverse society.

Jay pictured with Matthew Levendusky, Mina Cikara, Marlone Henderson

Our conversation was covered by The Daily Texan (you can read a summary of the full conference here). We discussed how it has become difficult to have civil disagreements and possible solutions:

“A key aspect of our mission as teachers and researchers is to prepare students to be successful in life,” said UT liberal arts profe…