Why you should talk to people you disagree with about politics



In Japan, politics, religion, and baseball are sometimes said to be the '

three biggest taboos ' when it comes to small talk. However, Rachel Wall, an educational scholar who has studied political conflict at the University of Virginia in the United States for 10 years, says that discussing politics can actually lead to much better impressions of each other, and suggested, 'Why not talk about these topics again with friends and family over the holiday season?'

Why you should talk to people you disagree with about politics
https://theconversation.com/why-you-should-talk-to-people-you-disagree-with-about-politics-244610

What happens when you talk about politics with people close to you?
According to Wall, even if people with different political opinions debate each other, it is rare for their views on political issues to change as a result. However, Wall still encourages political discussion because dialogue can greatly improve each other's impressions.

What's important is not the debate or argument itself, but how the conversation progresses during it. Wall says, 'When people sense that the other person is genuinely interested in their ideas and is asking questions in a respectful, gentle way, they tend to let their defenses down. Rather than responding with an aggressive question, they're more likely to respond with sincerity.'



◆Being interested in each other
The 'curiosity-based approach' has important effects on both the listener and the speaker. First, the listener is able to see the speaker, who made a choice or vote that the listener considers to be a 'bad option,' as a decent person who made a rational decision.

A curiosity-based approach makes you more empathetic to the speaker and helps you see their choices as well-intentioned and ethically sound, so that they make sense given their situation and values.

On the other hand, the experience of being listened to attentively is also a positive one for the speaker.

In fact, when Wall conducted

an experiment in which he had college students who were politically opposed to each other engage in a dialogue and then interviewed them three years later, the thing that left the biggest impression on them was the person they had exchanged opinions with.

The students remembered that the person they thought would verbally attack them actually asked sincere and respectful questions and listened carefully to their answers, and they also remembered thinking that the person was a nice person.

Impact on Democracy
Wall says that such exchanges can deepen understanding between people with opposing political views and ultimately contribute to democracy. There are three reasons for this. First, they can reduce support for the worst dangers that arise from hatred and fear, namely policies and politicians that dehumanize opponents, take away their rights, or incite violence, thereby mitigating the feeling that 'opponents are so stupid and evil that they must be stopped at all costs.'

Second, these conversations encourage the best part of democracy: citizens seeking to understand each other. Speaking of why understanding is so important to democracy, Wall said, 'We can't build a society in which all people thrive without understanding how other people live their lives, the experiences, interests, and beliefs that drive them.'



And while as mentioned above, few people change their political opinions through debate, some people find that honest, thoughtful questions lead them to ask themselves different questions and arrive at different answers than they had before. This is the third reason.

For example, one college student who participated in Wall's experiment confided in Wall in an interview several years after he had been asked in the dialogue session, 'Why did your beliefs lead you to make that choice?' 'I've been asking myself that question ever since.'

From these experiences, Wall said, 'While a healthy democracy requires action as well as dialogue, open and curious conversations between people who disagree remind us that we are all human beings, sharing a worldview and a country worth protecting.'

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