Jacob Hess served on the board of the National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation and is Executive Director of the Council for Sustainable Healing. He has a Ph.D. in clinical-community psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the implications of competing health and sociopolitical narratives.
With public health messaging now emphasizing how remarkably effective COVID-19 vaccines are, it’s reasonable to ask what exactly that means? Based on the published studies of the leading three vaccine candidates, I dove in to better understand that for myself.
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This is the sixth in a series by Arthur Peña, Charles Randall Paul, and Jacob Hess called “Inevitable Influencers: Why (deep down) we all want—and need—to persuade each other of what we see as good, beautiful, and true.” Previous pieces include “Why Persuasion Should be a Sweet (Not a Dirty) Word”; “The Threat of Persuasion,” and “My Truth? Your Truth? No Truth?”; “The Virtues of Strong Disagreement,” and “Our Judgment Against Judgment.”
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Much has been written in recent years about what “Latter-day Saints believe” about LGBT issues – only a fraction of which accurately represents our true convictions. Tragically, even today, many are only familiar with these widespread distortions.
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If we want to cultivate public confidence in the election, condemning or dismissing entirely those with concerns about the vote won’t help us get there. And making space for a little suspicion and caution shouldn’t hurt either.
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Early this morning, President Trump stood before the American people on the verge of another astounding upset and accused his opponents of fraud. When will the mounting levels of mutual suspicion and accusation take us past our breaking point as a country?
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We don’t agree on the problems facing America, which is why our views of the solutions and answers to the mess we’re in diverge so widely as well.
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President Trump’s comments have been rightly scrutinized for their potential impact on America’s post-election environment. Far less attention has gone to certain themes of progressive commentary, which in combination arguably heightens the volatility of our post-election atmosphere.
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Most everyone agrees that the United States is in trouble. Like everything else, however, we don’t agree on what that danger entails.
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After years of studying contrasting health narratives and their correspondence with actual scientific data, I can’t help but say, be wary of the medical salvation story. It’s usually too good to be true.
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Being judged for being “judgmental” has become so commonplace we hardly think twice about it. But sound judgment says we should.
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Is science an oracle of truth—revealing what we should do and how we should think—or is it an ongoing, contested deliberation about that truth?
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If you have questions or concerns about the Black Lives Matter movement, does that make you racist—or suggest that you don’t believe “black lives matter?” Of course not. But if Americans were needing a reminder of why not, Jonathan Isaac just provided it.
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However nice it would be to feel unified in our response to COVID-19, there are many ongoing differences in perspective between thoughtful, good-hearted people. Could it help to map out fairly what those disagreements are?
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What those who scorn believers in Christ’s return don’t understand is how much hope these beliefs bring—far more than any fear for what is surely coming.
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We’re right to mourn slavery as a country. It’s not what “birthed” America though.
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Anger and grief can inspire social progress. But they can also turn into rage and despair depending on the way we talk and think about what’s happening.
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Serious differences generate serious discomfort for us all. Could that be why they’re so good for us?
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Depression is real and often excruciating. Let’s not make it worse by persuading people it is invariably life-long and based on permanent, intrinsic deficiency.
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The dwindling sense of a common pursuit of truth is contributing to a deteriorating public discourse. Maybe it’s time to stand up for the truth about truth.
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These are serious times – with serious challenges. Does that make it less (or more) important that we stay open to diverse perspectives on what’s happening?
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