Defusing American Anger: A depolarization endeavor

Defusing American Anger: A depolarization endeavor

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Like my polarization work? Vote for me in this essay contest
Contest ends at midnight tonight; appreciate your help
 • Zachary Elwood
A polarized nation is volatile, at risk of being destabilized by non-representative acts of violence
How we build our narratives that "The other side are the violent ones!"
 • Zachary Elwood
When in conflict, we craft elaborate, false, and conflict-amplifying stories about our adversaries and our allies
Humans are storytellers, but our emotions when in conflict lead us to weave simplistic and conflict-amplifying stories
 • Zachary Elwood
Polarization makes us more paranoid — and paranoia makes us more polarized
On the self-reinforcing relationship between conspiracy-minded thinking and us-vs-them mindsets
 • Zachary Elwood
Polarized views on Covid, guns, and George Floyd: We can assign very different meanings to tragic, violent events
Polarization leads us to assign different meanings to tragic events... and that can make us seem increasingly alien to each other
 • Zachary Elwood
What if American polarization gets a lot worse?
What if our enemies are doing horrible, unforgivable things? What then?
 • Zachary Elwood
"Newsroom" scene: Telling people what their moral priorities should be angers them
When we righteously speak as if others should share our political views and priorities, we'll drive them away.
 • Zachary Elwood
Defusing American Anger: A depolarization endeavor
Defusing American Anger: A depolarization endeavor
Thoughts for people interested in reducing political toxicity and us-vs-them thinking. By Zachary Elwood, author of "Defusing American Anger" and "How Contempt Destroys Democracy," and host of the psych podcast People Who Read People.
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Defusing American Anger: A depolarization endeavor

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