binary thinking

TLDR: B/W thinking: Not ideal in today's world. Let's discuss.

Old school detailed description:
In a world of too much everything, we curate selectively: what we need to know, what we want to do, who we want to be around, what we believe. With regards to other people, we want to feel safe, and to ensure this we narrow our conception of ‘we’ accordingly, to those who agree with us.

But what happens when those same people voice something that doesn’t quite fit our established and agreed-upon views? What if those with whom we were once 100% united on the fronts of ’yes, abortion is good, Trump is evil, I hate turnips’ suddenly point out that ‘life above all is (generally speaking) a noble cause', or ‘Trump made it easier to prosecute money launderers* which is a helpful thing', or (God Forbid), 'turnip when baked and braised in marmelade is actually kind of yummy'?

The warning bells go off and we’d rather unfriend each other than have a discussion about the grey areas of all of these complicated issues. Perhaps as a result we are hindering both new connections and new possible solutions to tricky situations/topics.

This discussion will be a brainstorming session on how to have difficult conversations in general (NOT SPECIFICALLY ON POLITIC ISSUES) . My assumption is we'll end up with way more questions than answers.

Stay tuned for a few related reading links etc. and 'no-flake policy' is in effect as usual. Deadline for updating RSVPs is two days (not 24 hrs :) ) before the event, to accommodate wait-listers.

** FYI: in writing this text I googled 'did Trump do anything right as president' and got this fascinating (and seemingly non-partisan) link: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/18/trump-presidency-administration-biggest-impact-policy-analysis-451479.*