I agree with Dr. Willer’s recommendations and conclusions in the “How to have better political conversations” TED talk. First and foremost, Dr. Willer states that as American citizens, we owe it to one another to try and find some common ground (“How to have better political conversations,” 2016). I agree with this statement because the divide between the liberals and conservatives causes many disagreements and does not allow us to cooperate and resolve very important issues that can define the future of the state. This is especially important now since the political divide is greater than ever before. The two examples that Dr. Willer offers in support of this are the study of the attraction among couples with different political views and the fact that people with different political views tend to live in different areas of the country (“How to have better political conversations,” 2016).
One piece of advice that Dr. Willer offers on how to overcome the political divide in this state – is by using the values that are important to the other side to appeal to them (“Robb Willer: How do we bridge the political divide?,” 2017). I would use this advice because values are the deepest beliefs a person holds; they guide one’s life. The second piece of advice is to use empathy and respect, which is something I would follow when communicating with a person who has different political views (“How to have better political conversations,” 2016). This advice is helpful because empathy and respect are the basic tools that one has to use in any conversation for it to be productive, which people often omit when they talk about politics. More generally, Dr. Willer’s suggestions on how to improve the political conversation in our country are correct because he draws his conclusions from the research and the understanding of how people’s political values are formed and how the latter affects decisions and conversations.
Reference
How to have better political conversations. (2016). Web.
Robb Willer: How do we bridge the political divide? (2017). Web.