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The Minds of Others
The art of persuasion in the age of Trump
Bromwich, David; Greenwell, Garth; Abdurraqib, H.; Clancy, Kelly; Lalami, L.; Denzel Smith, M. http://harpers.org/archive/2018/02/the-minds-of-others/
Publisher: Harper's Magazine
Year Published: 2018
Resource Type: Article
In a divided America, seven writers explore the ways that persuasion operates in our lives- from the intimate to the far-reaching, and ultimately how we can pursuade others to see things the way we do.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
"Progress is impossible without change," George Bernard Shaw wrote in 1944, "and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." But progress through persuasion has never seemed harder to achieve. Political segregation has made many Americans inaccessible, even unimaginable, to those on the other side of the partisan divide. On the rare occasions when we do come face-to-face, it is not clear what we could say to change each other’s minds or reach a worthwhile compromise. Psychological research has shown that humans often fail to process facts that conflict with our preexisting worldviews. The stakes are simply too high: our self-worth and identity are entangled with our beliefs - and with those who share them. The weakness of logic as a tool of persuasion, combined with the urgency of the political moment, can be paralyzing.
Yet we know that people do change their minds. We are constantly molded by our environment and our culture, by the events of the world, by the gossip we hear and the books we read. In the essays that follow, seven writers explore the ways that persuasion operates in our lives, from the intimate to the far-reaching. Some consider the ethics and mechanics of persuasion itself - in religion, politics, and foreign policy - and others turn their attention to the channels through which it acts, such as music, protest, and technology. How, they ask, can we persuade others to join our cause or see things the way we do? And when it comes to our own openness to change, how do we decide when to compromise and when to resist?
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