{"id":2678,"date":"2024-09-13T17:32:42","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T17:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?p=2678"},"modified":"2025-03-11T13:27:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:27:24","slug":"efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let’s Talk About That"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our politically charged landscape, many of us feel angry, fearful, and on edge. There are clearly a lot of emotional tripwires and landmines on all sorts of topics that can agitate people \u2014 and when we hit someone\u2019s tripwires, they’ll pull away from us. Anger and fear present major obstacles to persuasion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guilt by association<\/h3>\n

Here’s one common way this plays out for us and other organizations that work on reducing political toxicity: Someone dismisses the goal of this work simply because they see someone on the “other side” supporting it. \u00a0<\/span>For example, a staunch progressive may think, “I see Republicans supporting this work; this shows how faulty the goals must be.” (Or vice versa, which also often happens.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s a logical fallacy known as “<\/span>guilt by association<\/span><\/a>.” <\/span>Just because someone you see as an opponent believes something doesn\u2019t mean that belief is wrong.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our words can accidentally be wedges<\/h3>\n

Another way we might accidentally drive people away is by using words associated with one \u201cside\u201d or the other. For example, someone writes an essay about reducing political toxicity and, in the process, uses the term \u201cillegal immigrant.\u201d That word choice may drive away some liberal people; they may end up thinking something like, \u201cThis cause is for conservative people; it\u2019s not for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or a conservative may see a piece about this work that mentions the term \u201csocial justice\u201d and think, \u201cObviously this is a liberal endeavor; it\u2019s not for me.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

(On this topic, Isaac Saul has <\/span>a great TED Talk<\/span><\/a> about how our language choices can accidentally amplify divides.)<\/span><\/p>\n

“But what about…”<\/h3>\n

It sometimes happens that when we examine polarizing behaviors in one political group, people in that group angrily respond, \u201cWhy are you focusing on this and not the many bad things on the \u2018other side\u2019? You\u2019re equating the two groups in unfair ways.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

But examining how people across the political spectrum can contribute to our divides is not saying, \u201cBoth groups are the same.\u201d (<\/span>Read more about this \u201cboth-sides\u201d objection<\/span><\/a>.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Many ways to misunderstand this work<\/h3>\n

It’s also true that there are many ways to misunderstand what we do<\/a>. For example, some people in this movement promote the term “moderate<\/a>,” which can make some people think, “Oh, this is a cause for people with moderate, in-the-middle stances.”<\/p>\n

But as we often say: No, this is a cause for everyone, regardless of their political views. The term “moderate” can have different definitions and one definition is someone who, regardless of their stances, tries to engage in respectful and productive ways.<\/p>\n

Disagreement is inevitable \u2014 <\/span>even about how to do this work<\/h3>\n

Even within organizations like ours, disagreements are common. People doing this work have disagreements about specific political and cultural issues (no surprise there) \u2014 <\/span>but we also have disagreements about the best approaches for reducing political toxicity<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This may be surprising to some people, but it shouldn\u2019t be: <\/span>We\u2019re human beings and we\u2019re going to disagree about all sorts of things<\/span><\/i> \u2014 even for some issues we\u2019re mostly aligned on. And the truth is that toxic polarization makes discord likely <\/span>even within groups that are largely aligned<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

To avoid such discord harming our overall goals, those of us in this movement should try to be generous with each other. We should try to not be overly judgmental if others don’t agree with us completely on granular aspects of this work \u2014 just as we’d like others to do the same for us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We hope you keep your eye on the big picture<\/h3>\n

There are just so many ways we can accidentally drive people away from <\/span>any <\/span><\/i>cause these days. To live in a highly polarized society is to be surrounded by emotional land mines.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If and when you find yourself being upset about something we’ve said, we hope you keep in mind the big picture of this work. We hope when you’re bothered by something we’ve said or an approach we’ve taken, you can still see the wisdom of our goal: <\/span>the goal of reducing political toxicity and contempt, and increasing productive and solutions-oriented collaboration.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What can those in this movement do about this?<\/h3>\n

Those of us spreading the word about this work should see the importance of trying to pre-emptively address negative reactions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One way to do this: <\/span>Acknowledge that disagreement on specific topics is inevitable and ask people to focus on the big picture.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

This leads us to another strategy: <\/span>We can be honest and vulnerable about these disagreements<\/b>. Such honesty will help people see that they can join this cause and support the \u201cbig idea\u201d \u2014 even as they disagree with others in this movement on other things (stances on issues, optimal approaches, etc.).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can look for opportunities to show that we understand some people\u2019s negative reactions.<\/b> This is part of a being-vulnerable approach: showing skeptical people that we don\u2019t judge them for their objections and suspicions, and we understand why they\u2019re skeptical. After all, extreme polarization leads to much anger and distrust: it\u2019s inevitable that many will have questions about this work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a practical example of how we might use these ideas in the real world. Let\u2019s say you\u2019re creating a depolarization-aimed resource for the general public. You could include a prominent disclaimer in the introduction that says something like the following:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In these polarized times, it\u2019s inevitable that some people will take issue with some of the ideas and thoughts in this resource. We ourselves sometimes disagree about which ideas and resources to focus on; disagreement is inevitable. We hope that, even if you disagree with some specific ideas and resources we\u2019ve included, you\u2019ll agree with the primary goals of reducing contemptuous, toxic ways of engaging and building a healthier political culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

When we directly and transparently address the fact that our work can sometimes be triggering, we\u2019ll help people approach our work with a more open and accepting mindset. We\u2019ll help them embrace the main idea of disagreeing in healthier ways \u2014 and reduce the chances of accidentally driving away valuable members in this movement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to stay in the loop about efforts to reduce toxic polarization? <\/span><\/i>Sign up for our newsletter<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our politically charged landscape, many of us feel angry, fearful, and on edge. There are clearly a lot of emotional tripwires and landmines on all sorts of topics that can agitate people \u2014 and when we hit someone\u2019s tripwires, they’ll pull away from us. Anger and fear present major obstacles to persuasion. Guilt by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":2679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"collection_feed":[],"type_feed":[77],"class_list":["post-2678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOur Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let's Talk About That - Builders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let's Talk About That - Builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In our politically charged landscape, many of us feel angry, fearful, and on edge. There are clearly a lot of emotional tripwires and landmines on all sorts of topics that can agitate people \u2014 and when we hit someone\u2019s tripwires, they’ll pull away from us. Anger and fear present major obstacles to persuasion. Guilt by…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-13T17:32:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-11T13:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"747\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zach Elwood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fa86211edc631829f62424ccba457d0a\"},\"headline\":\"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let’s Talk About That\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-13T17:32:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-11T13:27:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/\"},\"wordCount\":1061,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/\",\"name\":\"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let's Talk About That - Builders\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-13T17:32:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-11T13:27:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fa86211edc631829f62424ccba457d0a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":747,\"caption\":\"Two orange signs on a grassy landscape: one reads \\\"LAND MINES AHEAD\\\" and the other \\\"REDUCING POLARIZATION.\\\" Both are attached to a barbed wire fence.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let’s Talk About That\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/\",\"name\":\"Builders\",\"description\":\"Rise Above Us vs Them. Be a Builder\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let's Talk About That - Builders","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let's Talk About That - Builders","og_description":"In our politically charged landscape, many of us feel angry, fearful, and on edge. There are clearly a lot of emotional tripwires and landmines on all sorts of topics that can agitate people \u2014 and when we hit someone\u2019s tripwires, they’ll pull away from us. Anger and fear present major obstacles to persuasion. Guilt by…","og_url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/","og_site_name":"Builders","article_published_time":"2024-09-13T17:32:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-11T13:27:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":747,"url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/"},"author":{"name":"Zach Elwood","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fa86211edc631829f62424ccba457d0a"},"headline":"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let’s Talk About That","datePublished":"2024-09-13T17:32:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-11T13:27:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/"},"wordCount":1061,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/","url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/","name":"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let's Talk About That - Builders","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg","datePublished":"2024-09-13T17:32:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-11T13:27:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fa86211edc631829f62424ccba457d0a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HeroImage_Feed-3-3.jpg","width":1200,"height":747,"caption":"Two orange signs on a grassy landscape: one reads \"LAND MINES AHEAD\" and the other \"REDUCING POLARIZATION.\" Both are attached to a barbed wire fence."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/09\/13\/efforts-to-reduce-polarization-can-trigger-people\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Our Work Will Sometimes Bother You \u2014 Let’s Talk About That"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/","name":"Builders","description":"Rise Above Us vs Them. Be a Builder","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2678"},{"taxonomy":"collection_feed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection_feed?post=2678"},{"taxonomy":"type_feed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_feed?post=2678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}