![]() ![]() ![]() In fact, Americans are closer to one another than anyone thinks. is not as divided as we would like to believe. In short, we believe we’re more polarized than we really are - and that misperception can drive us even further apart.” “Americans incorrectly believe that members of the other party dehumanize, dislike, and disagree with them about twice as much as they actually do. This was found in Beyond Conflict’s recent study, “ America’s Divided Mind.” What it found was both stunning and counterintuitive - that polarization was fuelling dehumanizing conflict, rather than the other way around. The fact is that this us versus them rhetoric and point of view is more toxic than the actual opinions and values of the opposing sides. But what we may not be aware of, regardless of which side of the divide we are on, is that our individual perceptions about how the others feel about us may be way off. We are all painfully aware that America is as divided as it has ever been, with the notable exception of the Civil War years. But what if our brains are manipulated to see others in this destructive way? In extreme circumstances, such as Nazi Germany or Rwanda in the 1990s, stripping away others’ human qualities essentially gives us a licence to kill. Doing so makes it easier to eradicate them. When we are encouraged to be disgusted with a certain group, we tend to dehumanize them, strip them of their human qualities. Similarly, when we see others we believe to threaten our way of life or undermine the status or power of the group we associate ourselves with - our tribe - we also go into a form of survival mode. Think of discovering rats in your kitchen cupboards. ![]() When something disgusts us, we feel the need to eradicate the problem. But our more recent understanding of cognitive neuroscience gives us insight into a different part of the brain that triggers fear or disgust, the latter of which can have a much more damaging impact on others around us. We are all aware of “fight or flight” reactions to circumstances that involve an immediate, short-term threat, such as running into a stranger in a dark alley. The same can be said about the brain’s reaction to dangers of every type. Most of the functions the brain monitors and regulates - breathing, heart rate, administering hormones, etc. Interestingly, the brain doesn’t care about the impact its focus on survival has on our behaviour other than what protects us and our kin. Our brains have evolved over tens of thousands of years and have maintained a key function, which is to be efficient and ensure survival. Since then, the organization has worked in 75 countries struggling with conflict by researching, testing and scaling innovative solutions that help communities to mitigate, resolve and recover from conflict, promote reconciliation and thereby promote peace.Ī few years ago, Tim introduced neuroscience to the tool box of methods we can use to better understand how humans think and behave toward one another under certain conditions. Tim founded the non-profit organization Beyond Conflict, a democracy and reconciliation initiative, over 30 years ago. Even though I was involved in conflict prevention (I am currently the co-chair of the International Crisis Group), his ideas at the time seemed beyond my more practical sensibilities. When he first mentioned this idea to me many years ago, I admit I didn’t pay much attention. My curiosity about this topic spurred me to reach out to my old friend Tim Phillips, who years ago launched an initiative to study the “neuroscience of conflict.” That is, exploring how lessons learned from intractable global conflicts seen through the lens of neuroscience could be harnessed for peace. Think of the science of psychology as describing how a spark plug works within your car engine and neuroscience describing the inner workings of a spark plug. Neuroscience is the field concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain that are involved in mental processes. My daughter, who is studying cognitive neuroscience at university, has been regaling me lately with facts about how the human brain actually works. How much of human behaviour is subconscious, seemingly illogical or counter intuitive? The answer is, a lot! ![]() Jessica Rabbit, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” ![]()
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