Perhaps you’ve noticed we’re living in tense times

Disagreements seem to dominate the public sphere and our private lives. How we approach these differences is more urgent than you might think.

Being a qualitative researcher requires interest in, and empathy towards, the opinions and beliefs of others. It’s part of the fundamental ethos of the field. So I have a professional obligation to identify with others.

I once wrote a piece about ‘the debating society principle:’ the idea that we have a responsibility to understand opinions contrary to our own. Since then, I’ve had conversations with more than a few people who disagree with this premise. They are entirely apathetic towards different opinions and view even trying to understand such perspectives as being somehow immoral. They feel no need to agree to disagree. This has become a particularly acute issue, being that we are living in highly polarized times.

Having empathy for someone with whom you differ doesn’t require you to agree with that person. It simply asks you to respect the person and try to see things from his or her perspective.

The idea that it is OK – if not laudable – to have no interest in a point of view different from your own brings to mind the philosopher and civil rights leader Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who once wrote that “the opposite of good is not evil; the opposite of good is indifference.” Being indifferent to the beliefs and feelings of another person strikes me as the first step toward dehumanizing that person. Once we start seeing some individuals as being less than fully human, bad things start to happen. If you’re wondering why we seem to be in a period of such profound societal and political dysfunction, perhaps this helps to explain that.

Being uninterested in the beliefs of another human being – and perhaps dismissive of that person’s fundamental humanity – puts you on a slippery slope. It places you in danger of becoming something you never wanted to (or even thought you could) be.

We’re in a particularly fraught time right now, as we’re only a few weeks from an election. No matter what your political point of view, realize that about half of your fellow citizens probably disagree with you on at least one major issue. This brings you face-to-face with a crucial choice: will you view opinions that are contrary to yours with empathy or apathy? Your own humanity may hang in the balance.