Friday, January 25, 2019

How to Talk to People You Disagree With

I've been intrigued with the way Megan Phelps-Roper left the Westboro Baptist Church (the "God Hates Fags" people) she grew up in, ever since I read her story in the New Yorker,
"Conversion via Twitter":
it was through DIALOGUE ON TWITTER!


Who knew such a thing could happen?

Well, I did, because it's happened to me--rarely, but genuinely, on my blog--a respectful conversation with a person I totally disagreed with. We ended up becoming friends.


So, just last night, I was happy to see MP-R gave a TED talk in 2017--I'd totally missed it.

Naturally she thinks it's a good idea to discuss things with people you (sometimes vehemently) disagree with.
Here are her four placard-sized tips for doing that. She says, "they're simple, but they're hard."
I KNOW!
Lucky me, I can practice these at committee meetings!

This is the full talk:



2 comments:

  1. Good Ted talk. It's so hard to be humble and ask questions when you're sure you're right...

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  2. BINK: Too true! I pretend, sometimes, that I'm NOT sure I'm right (when I really am sure I am), just on principle.
    Very galling when it turns out I really am not right!

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