De-Antagony

It is a cliché to talk about how the political atmosphere has become increasingly polarized, as if expressing one’s political viewpoints hasn’t always been charged (having been first exposed to politics as a kid in the Nixon era, I can attest to that).

What has changed is the bleeding of politics into everything, and the subsequent demeaning and unwillingness to attempt to empathize with those whom one’s disagrees. Particularly when the disagreement is more about means than ends, the disagreement is sneering, and, if the protagonist just held up a mirror, he would realize the behavior he is disparaging parallels his own.

Part of this is my use of Twitter for information – for example technical journalists I respect and want to hear insight from can’t seem to limit themselves to topic and must inflict on their audience opinions in areas well outside their facility. That’s fine, people have the right to opine, but it means a portion of their potential audience is lost – I lose a little too because while I still read their formal pieces, it limits my exposure to their interesting ideas that are more likely to flow from the freeform structure of Twitter. Our President’s example of unceasing frivolous logorrhea should encourage restraint in his detractors, not emulation.

It is lame to ask people to have a little empathy for others not like them, to ask them to realize that their beliefs are informed by their circumstances and the feedback loop and confirmation bias of their increasing societal and cultural homogeneity. Not lame because it is wrong, but lame because it is unlikely to happen.

What I would ask for is just a little (really, just a little) de-antagony. Try not to focus on antagonizing your opponent. Instead of immediately commenting in anger, frustration or animosity, put it in a (figurative) drawer for a little while, and try to drain 10% of the vituperation and add in 10% of persuasion. Try to suppress you sense of superiority and replace it with a little empathy. Just like herd immunity, even that tiny 10% would make a difference.