By Lisa Selin Davis, Illustration: Caroline Gamon, The New York Times, March 7, 2022
I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY
How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times
By Mónica Guzmán
“Unfollow if you disagree.” It may sound like an innocuous social media phrase, but Mónica Guzmán suggests that, in reality, it reflects the brokenness of a world in which divergent viewpoints preclude relationships. Rejecting someone for their class, race or sexual orientation remains taboo, but ditching people — or doxing, threatening or shaming them — for their political beliefs? It’s not only acceptable, it’s the ultimate virtue signaling.
But Guzmán, who works in communications at the nonprofit Braver Angels, which seeks to depolarize America, sees conflicting ideas and ideals not as the end but the beginning. Her book, “I Never Thought of It That Way,” is a manual for difficult conversations between people who find themselves at opposite ends of the political spectrum, an investigation into the sources of polarization and a road map for marching out of dicey territory.
The first section, “S.O.S.,” details how we got here. If you’ve seen “The Social Dilemma,” this part won’t feel too revelatory. The gist is, we’re sorting ourselves into tight groups, stuck in our ideological silos and “othering” people who disagree. We’re helped along by technology, but the analog world is just as divided. Few Republicans and Democrats even live near each other anymore, Guzmán reports; we’ve sorted ourselves into blocs where we rarely have to confront those with different ideologies, making it easier to dehumanize them.
Comments (0)