Debate Etiquette

  The unpleasant experience of having someone with an opposing view point poke a hole in the comfortable bubble of my own has, on occasion, widened my knowledge base and helped to recognize my own biases.  In some instances it has provided a greater understanding and in some cases reinforced my resolve, but gratitude in both.  Being less of an activist nowadays has curbed many direct confrontations, and moreover sheltered me from the frustration of futile attempts to be persuasive.  However, I've come across a helpful tool in the research by Yale law professor, Dan Kahan, who classifies individuals as either "hierarchical" or "egalitarian" in their cultural values, and frames each in what he calls "motivational reasoning."  For those who sincerely seek to represent their viewpoints in articulate and respectful ways, it's worth reading his work.  I found his advice in avoiding the "culture war of facts" by speaking to value first  (giving the facts a fighting chance) to be valid.

  Lizz Winstead uses the American apple pie's old school recipe as an exemplary metaphor for the making of a president; both are a  made from scratch process. One who values good old fashioned ways should appreciate how the road to the White House is a slow and methodical process founded on substantive leadership; and how back-in-the-day electorates were given more opportunity to slow cook their consideration and think more deeply about their representative choices at the ballot box. In contrast, today's technologies have accelerated this process much in the way microwave ovens have made apple pies quick, easy and less delectable.  In an election cycle politically charged with  sound bites and tweets, they have empowered fractured broadcast journalism and social media to outpace that of print journalism, quantitatively richer in detail. Syndicated columnist, Bob Franken, points out that in such a climate, process has also been undermined by well financed distortions that obscure core themes in campaign rhetoric via massive infusions of money and negative advertising.

  In this way, an egalitarian thinker may find an inroad toward a more effective discussion with a hierarchical one, by addressing a conservative value at its forefront. Hopefully a more amiable and fruitful dialogue will ensue.