Source: https://www.denverlibrary.org/sites/dplorg/files/foodRh-5877.JPG

Have an Awkward Dinner Party on Purpose, Make the World a Better Place

Quoting some interesting scientific studies about the evolution of aggressive and violent behavior, Tom Bartlett writes:

“We reliably stigmatize the other. We also reliably respond to certain kinds of information and interventions, our positions soften, we become more open. We’re more predictable than we imagine, less entrenched than we assume.”

While our default switch is hopelessly set to “exclude the outsider”, the switch is really flimsy. Like, it doesn’t even lock into place very well.

Under the right conditions, it reliably switches off. Because we're actually pretty warm and fuzzy. But we need the right setups and prompts. We need to set the table.

In my last post, I unpacked some of the findings from Thomas F. Pettigrew and Linda R. Tropp’s “A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory” (try saying that five times, really fast) which synthesizes findings from across over 500 studies to support the ideas behind claims like Bartlett’s.

This week’s post is building from my last but in a more practical way. I’m going to showcase a facilitation tool for getting groups of people, who otherwise hate or vehemently disagree with each other, into the same room to “breed liking.”