I think it comes back to that humility too, but it brings me to another point that I make and what the fact, your beliefs about things do not have to do. That's actually oftentimes pretty dangerous place to be because then you are in that polarized corner that no one can dislodge you from. If instead you say to yourself, I'm going to assign levels of credence to beliefs about things, then when someone gently, compassionately, kindly guides you to know how that tax policy works because I don't, right? Then you might say, oh crap, yeah, no, I don't either. So it's actually something that's known to be cognitively building resilience
Why does disagreement feel so personal? According to author, journalist, and physician Seema Yasmin, it’s because beliefs aren’t just about what we think, they’re about who we are.
“What [people] believe is entrenched in them, and it’s to do with their sense of belonging and their sense of identity,” says Yasmin. Whether we’re butting heads over something trivial like sports or something major like COVID-19 vaccines, Yasmin points out that the disagreement is just the surface — underneath are complex layers of geopolitics, history, language, dialect, culture, faith, family history, and power hierarchies.
So how do we show compassion to others, especially when we disagree with them? Yasmin and host Matt Abrahams explore strategies for more empathetic communication in this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart.
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