1.0Discoursehttps://www.discoursemagazine.comChristina Behehttps://www.discoursemagazine.com/author/cbehe/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content"><a href="https://www.discoursemagazine.com/ideas/2021/04/19/groups-are-not-monoliths/">Groups Are Not Monoliths</a></blockquote> <script type='text/javascript'> <!--//--><![CDATA[//><!-- /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,d){"use strict";var e=!1,n=!1;if(d.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},!c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage)if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(t)if(t.secret||t.message||t.value)if(!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var r,a,i,s=d.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=d.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=0;o<n.length;o++)n[o].style.display="none";for(o=0;o<s.length;o++)if(r=s[o],e.source===r.contentWindow){if(r.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message){if(1e3<(i=parseInt(t.value,10)))i=1e3;else if(~~i<200)i=200;r.height=i}if("link"===t.message)if(a=d.createElement("a"),i=d.createElement("a"),a.href=r.getAttribute("src"),i.href=t.value,i.host===a.host)if(d.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener("message",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),d.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",t,!1),c.addEventListener("load",t,!1);function t(){if(!n){n=!0;for(var e,t,r=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 10"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./),i=d.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),s=0;s<i.length;s++){if(!(e=i[s]).getAttribute("data-secret"))t=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t);if(r||a)(t=e.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),e.parentNode.replaceChild(t,e)}}}}(window,document); //--><!]]> </script><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.discoursemagazine.com/ideas/2021/04/19/groups-are-not-monoliths/embed/" width="600" height="338" title="“Groups Are Not Monoliths” — Discourse" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe>https://www.discoursemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1140092952.jpg21211414For anyone who pays attention to the news, it’s hard to go a day without hearing about how difficult it’s become to engage in productive dialogue with others across ideological boundaries. The lament may be bordering on cliché, but it also happens to be true. We are living through an intense period of polarization, which encourages us to interpret disagreements as taking place between two groups, each of cartoonish simplicity: “us” (the right thinking) and “them” (the wrong thinking). Fear and, increasingly, a kind of paranoia cause us to attempt to hastily identify participants in debates as belonging to one […]