polarization vs coexistence & cohesion

There are two mindsets that allow these atrocities to happen. One is dehumanizing , where you consider other groups of people less than human. Then there's demonizing , where you consider them to be fully human, which makes them all the more contemptible because of the evil choices that they've made. Daniel Goldhagen has set up a 2 X 2 taxonomy of... See more

Not all conflict is bad. Disagreement — over taxes, education, or policy — is essential to a healthy democracy. But affective polarization isn’t about differing ideas. It’s about identity.

It emerges when people begin to dislike, distrust, or even dehumanize others because of who they are — their ethnicity, region, religion, political affiliation,... See more

On day one, they define a political institution as “a socially created constraint on human action.” That definition has always stuck with me. This means that we can make them and remake them. But it also means that whatever institution we create, people are going to use those institutions strategically to try to achieve whatever ends they're trying... See more

Above all, Sloman seems to be arguing for thinking through the practical implications of one’s beliefs.

Most issues can be framed in terms of the consequences they produce. Rather than asking whether it is right or wrong to, say, allow people to carry concealed weapons, we can ask what the consequences of such a policy would be. And asserting a... See more

The simplest way to tell the story of my life is as an ongoing formation through a series of very muscular institutions: family, the Church, an all-boys Catholic school, the Marine Corps, Little League, and my local Fire Department. Each of these institutions had strong norms that facilitated connecting across difference—and, in practice, each of... See more