Conflict researcher Jonathan Stray discusses the neuroscience of conflict, societal polarization, social media's role, and strategies for building bridges. Topics include tribalistic brains, political divides, identity influence, empathy, and constructive dialogues.
Emphasizing empathy and understanding diverse viewpoints can lead to harmonious societies.
Deep dives
Understanding Conflict and Empathy in Relation to Brain Science
Neuroscientist David Eagleman discusses the innate human drive towards in-group and out-group distinctions, creating a tribalistic mindset. Despite cultural differences, all human brains function similarly. Brains prioritize in-groups, leading to less empathy for out-groups. Neuroscience experiments highlight this bias, showing brains caring more for in-group pain. This lack of empathy for out-groups contributes to ongoing global conflicts.
Challenges in Addressing Conflict and Truth Perception
Conflicts arise from humans' innate belief in possessing the truth and their difficulty in comprehending others' perspectives. People are resistant to change and tend to view their beliefs as superior. Deep-rooted tribalism intensifies conflicts, leading to societal polarization. The complexity of human conflicts requires a shift towards productive conflict management.
Promoting Productive Conflict and Improved Resolution Strategies
Political researcher Jonathan Stray highlights the importance of categorizing conflicts into good and bad types. Good conflict involves healthy discussions and mutual understanding, while bad conflict results in polarization and potential violence. Emphasizing non-violent conflict resolution methods and encouraging empathetic communication can lead to better conflict outcomes. Generating empathy and understanding diverse viewpoints are crucial for fostering a harmonious society.
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Promoting Understanding Across Political Divides
Efforts are being made to bridge political divides by teaching individuals to relate successfully across ideological differences. Programs at K-12 and university levels encourage constructive dialogue by helping students understand varying perspectives. For instance, writing assignments challenge students to empathize with characters holding opposing views. Organizations like Braver Angels facilitate 'red-blue conversations,' promoting understanding rather than attempting to change minds. The goal is to humanize political adversaries, fostering respectful discourse and building bridges between differing viewpoints.
Presumably we're not going to solve the problem of conflict between groups of people -- but what would better conflict look like? And what does that have to do with brains, the spread of homo sapiens, social media recommender algorithms, tribalism, intellectual humility, or the Iroquois Native Americans? Join this week's episode with guest Jonathan Stray -- a conflict researcher -- for an episode about brain science, war, empathy, outgroups, and how we might do better.
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