Are We Pursuing Impossible Conversations?
How discussions are pre-loaded for failure.
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Author: Jacob Z. Hess
Jacob Hess served on the board of the National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation and co-authored "You're Not as Crazy as I Thought, But You're Still Wrong" and “The Power of Stillness: Mindful Living for Latter-day Saints.” He has a Ph.D. in clinical-community psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - and has focused his research on the implications of competing health and sociopolitical narratives.
A Short History of Social Media Bans
Conservatives are feeling singled out and targeted on social media. But the history of bans across major platforms confirms a more complicated picture.
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Is it Okay to Disagree about THAT?!
While most Americans love to talk about the high value of “pluralism” and “free speech” when push comes to shove they usually have a red line—an issue on which it’s NOT okay to disagree openly. At least not publicly. What’s yours?
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What Does It Mean to Be “Effective”?
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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Why Bother Engaging with Stupid, Duped, or Evil People?
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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Seven Ways Latter-day Saint Teaching about Sexuality Have Been Misrepresented
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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The Problem with Demanding Trust
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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When Does the Poison of Our National Suspicion Become Lethal?
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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Competing Narratives of American Redemption
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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Would the Left Accept Four More Years?
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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Competing Narratives of Danger in America
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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AstraZeneca and Pfizer Will Save Us
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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Our Judgement Against Judgement
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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Do You ‘Believe in Science’…or Not?
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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Are There Good Reasons to Opt Out of the BLM Movement?
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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Mapping Public Disagreements about Covid-19 Response
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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Apocalyptic, and Not Ashamed to Say It
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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Is America Really Rotten to the Core?
We’re right to mourn slavery as a country. It’s not what “birthed” America though.
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A Rhetoric of Racial Despair
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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The Virtues of Strong Disagreement
Serious differences generate serious discomfort for us all. Could that be why they’re so good for us?
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