Tag Archives: Disagreement

Grokking Our Disagreements

Posted on June 26, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

I finally got around to reading Robert Heinlein’s science fiction novel Starship Troopers. When I was growing up, I read two or three science fiction novels a week. How I missed Starship Troopers, I don’t know. And one of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Assumptions, Disagreement, Fair Witness, Grok, Grokking, Handling disagreement, Heinlein, Social Conflict, Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land | Leave a comment

You See What You Expect

Posted on June 10, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

Why do smart, sane, honest people sometimes disagree no matter how hard they try to find the truth? Name an issue: Abortion Feminism Immigration Islam President Trump Racism My friends and I often have stark disagreements about those issues. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology | Tagged Ames room, Assumptions, Constructive disagreement, Disagreement, Illusion, Optical illusion, Perception | 1 Comment

Remain Calm, Even If All Isn’t Well

Posted on January 8, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

It’s easy to remain calm when everything is going well. But it’s more important to remain calm when everything isn’t going so well. One way I’m lucky is that I have friends and family members who disagree with me about … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Judaism, Life, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Animal House, Calmness, Communication, Communication Problems, Debate, Disagreement, Diversity, Miscommunication, Misunderstanding, Rational, Rationality, Reasonable Debate, Serenity | 2 Comments

We Can Have Unity Without Unanimity

Posted on November 24, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was Prime Minister of England during World War II. He rallied his people to fight back against Nazi Germany even though some of them advocated surrender. Faced with such disagreement, Churchill said something that’s still relevant in … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Jewish Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Compromise, Disagreement, Fundamental values, Negotiation, Politics, Priorities, Setting priorities, Social discord, Social Peace, Social unity | 2 Comments

How to Argue Productively

Posted on October 16, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

Most arguments aren’t productive. But argument can be productive if you do it right. The First Rule The first rule of productive argument is the same as in many other areas: Define your goals. Do you want to discover the … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Philosophy, Political Science, Society | Tagged Argument, Debate, Disagreement, Evidence, Rational Argument, Reason, Reasonable, Respect | Leave a comment

Can We See Past Our Own Foundations?

Posted on October 15, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

You can’t understand anything in terms of nothing. That much is obvious. What’s less obvious is that it’s a barrier to communication and understanding. Each of us has a foundational viewpoint that biases how we see the world. It includes … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Philosophy, Political Science | Tagged Debate, Disagreement, Open-minded, Rationality, Truth | 2 Comments

Do You Want to Believe?

Posted on November 21, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: After a bitterly divisive election season, there’s one question on everyone’s mind: “How can people possibly believe that?” What “that” is depends on who’s doing the talking. It means one thing to … Continue reading →