I first ran across “Timely Tips for Having a Civil Political Conversation” four years ago, and thought it was important then; when Terry Paulson wrote, “the shrill and explosive nature of the comments made about this election make serious political dialogue in America difficult at best,” I could only agree. Four years later, it’s only gotten worse. Despite the issues that divide us, I truly believe that if folks would take Dr. Paulson’s advice to heart and follow it, we’d all be a lot better off.Of course, to do that requires humility and the willingness to respect those who hold positions with which we disagree; and a lot of folks find that hard, and far too many dogmatically reject the idea. As Dr. Johnathan Haidt has pointed out, doing that requires people to be able “to project themselves into the minds of their opponents and answer questions about their moral reasoning,” and some people find that very difficult.
