Chair's Column: Fall 2017

Surely I do not need to tell you that the political climate in which we do our work often seems intolerable, especially as divisiveness and dogmatism have escalated such that engaging in meaningful and productive conversations might seem like an impossible dream. Elected officials, community leaders and other civic-minded individuals frequently lament that such divisiveness and dogmatism continuously interfere with, and often prevent, achieving even small and realistic goals toward problem solving.

The dilemma before us as Sierra Club members, and as advocates of the natural environment and all who rely on it, relates to navigating such waters in a way that not only continues our mission and work, but also sustains our well-being. This is the fundamental problem I have frequently reflected on since the early stages of the 2016 presidential campaign. Below are my own personal strategies. I thought I’d share them with you.

 

This is one of the most valuable strategies that we can bring to any interaction with others. Perspectives and beliefs, no matter how outrageous and irrational they may seem to us, are the result of personal experience, upbringing and information exposure (or lack thereof). By acknowledging that another person’s understanding of a topic or issue, even at its most extreme, is the result and culmination of that person’s life, we can still greatly appreciate that there is a reason for those beliefs, and similarly bring our own reasoning to the conversation. In other words, the more we’re able to understand why others believe what they do, we can begin to offer alternate avenues for understanding a topic.

 

Listening to understand seems to have become a lost art, even among the most sophisticated among us, yet this skill is necessary to achieve an understanding of others, as outlined in the last point. Instead, the act of listening has been forced into the back of our minds as a means to develop a rebuttal as to why the speaker is wrong, and why we are thereby right. To listen fully and unconditionally, we must abandon rebuttal mode, at least for that moment. A response can happen later, but it will be more thoughtful after understanding and reflection. If the other person is reasonable, he or she will likely recognize and appreciate what you’re doing and thereby develop more respect for you.
 

The current era of unlimited sources of information combined with a multitude of means for their distribution allows us to find “evidence” to support whatever claim or argument we want to present. That is, whatever it is we believe (or want to believe), someone somewhere has the evidence to back it up — it just has to be found. This is “confirmation bias” — the desire to find information to confirm a preexisting belief, whether conveniently cherry picking such evidence or simply stopping the search once the evidence has presented itself. In either case, this is not a logical strategy for developing sound ideas, nor does it produce logical conclusions. When finding evidence to support claims and arguments, seek out the highest quality information available, preferably empirical data and/or scholarship as much as possible.
 

Diversity is a buzz word now more than ever, and for good reason. But we should not forget the value of diversity in thought, especially when the age of social media and online networks tends to enable us in building a social network comprised of like-minded individuals who share information that confirms what we already know (or want to believe — see my last point.) Diversity of opinion helps foster exposure to multiple perspectives on a topic, and also helps remind us that others who do not share our perspective are still people like us and that their thinking is a result of their own life experience (see the first point above). The more you expose yourself to different perspectives, the more you can develop your own understanding of why others think the way they do and thereby avoid dismissing their perspective as simply irrational and inconsequential. In addition, the more you engage with others of different perspectives, the more likely they may also become open to your own thinking, especially if they are able to understand the reasoning behind your perspective and see you as a caring and thoughtful individual.
 

These are some of the strategies I’ve been trying to implement lately, though implementation necessarily remains imperfect and is thus continuously in progress. That does not mean I’ll stop trying, though. Some attempts are more successful than others, depending on the circumstance, of course. It is worth it, even when you fail. With all of us collectively pursuing such efforts, we can begin to transform our political climate from divisive to inclusive, from dogmatic to open and respectful. Such an endeavor will not be easy, but each conversation is one step closer toward our goal.