Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision
Previous revision
utsfl:classroom:seminars:pbh310 [2024/03/27 11:04] – refactored into three sections and added a final quote on empathy and bridging the divide balleyneutsfl:classroom:seminars:pbh310 [2024/04/11 21:42] (current) – hive switch with audience choir balleyne
Line 14: Line 14:
 For a guide through the field of moral psychology, I'm going to turn to Jonathan Haidt - whose name you'll see all over the Wikipedia article on [[wp>Moral Psychology]] - and his landmark 2012 book //The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided By Politics and Religion,// which draws on 25 years of groundbreaking research and which, I think, is full of wisdom for pro-life activists as a sort of textbook for a 300-level course in heart apologetics. For a guide through the field of moral psychology, I'm going to turn to Jonathan Haidt - whose name you'll see all over the Wikipedia article on [[wp>Moral Psychology]] - and his landmark 2012 book //The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided By Politics and Religion,// which draws on 25 years of groundbreaking research and which, I think, is full of wisdom for pro-life activists as a sort of textbook for a 300-level course in heart apologetics.
  
-(I first encountered Jonathan Haidt's concepts from the book in late 2020in the midst of pandemic and 2020 presidential election debates and conspiracy thinking, and then my friend Katie bought me the book a year later at the end of 2021, and I read it slowly in 2022, 2023, and early 2024. I knew there were deep insights into heart apologetics from my first encounter, but as I worked my way through the book, I became more and more convinced that it would be helpful to run a seminar on this.)+(Share some of my 2020-2024 journey in thinking about this.)
  
 I'm going to pull out the core insights from Haidt's work that apply to pro-life activism, and leave aside philosophical bones to pick and worldview differences. We'll go through Jonathan Haidt's three principles of moral psychology, and apply them to pro-life activism: The Elephant and the Rider, the Six Taste Receptors, and the Hive Switch. I'm going to pull out the core insights from Haidt's work that apply to pro-life activism, and leave aside philosophical bones to pick and worldview differences. We'll go through Jonathan Haidt's three principles of moral psychology, and apply them to pro-life activism: The Elephant and the Rider, the Six Taste Receptors, and the Hive Switch.
Line 192: Line 192:
   * a rock concert   * a rock concert
   * a meaningful and challenging experience that builds community (like a summer internship or tour)   * a meaningful and challenging experience that builds community (like a summer internship or tour)
 +
 +FIXME example: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3x_fI_s4SV/
  
 Collective ritual - Haidt says that human beings are //conditional hive creatures.// We exist on an individual level, but also as part of the larger society, as part of a community. Collective ritual - Haidt says that human beings are //conditional hive creatures.// We exist on an individual level, but also as part of the larger society, as part of a community.
Line 204: Line 206:
   * Ways to nudge everyone's "hive switch" sliders a bit: (p. 277)   * Ways to nudge everyone's "hive switch" sliders a bit: (p. 277)
     * **Increase similarity, not diversity.** [connect with religious idea bundling] To make a human hive, you want to make everyone feel like a family. So don't call attention to racial and ethnic differences; make them less relevant by ramping up similarity and celebrating the group's shared values and common identity.     * **Increase similarity, not diversity.** [connect with religious idea bundling] To make a human hive, you want to make everyone feel like a family. So don't call attention to racial and ethnic differences; make them less relevant by ramping up similarity and celebrating the group's shared values and common identity.
-    * **Exploit synchrony:** People who move together are saying, "We are one, we are a team; just look how perfectly we are able to do that Tomasello shared-intention thing." Japanese corporations such as Toyota begin their days with synchronous companywide exercises. Groups prepare for battle - in war and sports - with group chants and ritualized movements. ([Example given of rugby haka](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKFYTFJ_kw)) If you ask people to sing a song together, or to march in step, or just to tap out some beats together on a table, it makes them trust each other more and be more willing to help each other out, in part because it makes people feel more similar to each other. If it's too creepy to ask your employees or fellow group members to do synchronized calisthenics, perhaps you can just try to have more parties with dancing or karaoke. **Synchrony builds trust.**+    * **Exploit synchrony:** People who move together are saying, "We are one, we are a team; just look how perfectly we are able to do that Tomasello shared-intention thing." Japanese corporations such as Toyota begin their days with synchronous companywide exercises. Groups prepare for battle - in war and sports - with group chants and ritualized movements. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKFYTFJ_kw|Example given of rugby haka]]) If you ask people to sing a song together, or to march in step, or just to tap out some beats together on a table, it makes them trust each other more and be more willing to help each other out, in part because it makes people feel more similar to each other. If it's too creepy to ask your employees or fellow group members to do synchronized calisthenics, perhaps you can just try to have more parties with dancing or karaoke. **Synchrony builds trust.**
     * **Create healthy competition among teams, not individuals.** As McNeill said, soldiers don't risk their lives for their country or for the army; they do so for their buddies in the same squad or platoon. Studies show that intergroup competition increases love of the in-group far more than it increases dislike of the out-group. Intergroup competitions, such as friendly rivalries between corporate divisions, or intramural sports competitions, should have a net positive effect on hivishness and social capital. But pitting individuals against each other in a competition for scarce resources (such as bonuses) will destroy hivishness, trust, and morale.     * **Create healthy competition among teams, not individuals.** As McNeill said, soldiers don't risk their lives for their country or for the army; they do so for their buddies in the same squad or platoon. Studies show that intergroup competition increases love of the in-group far more than it increases dislike of the out-group. Intergroup competitions, such as friendly rivalries between corporate divisions, or intramural sports competitions, should have a net positive effect on hivishness and social capital. But pitting individuals against each other in a competition for scarce resources (such as bonuses) will destroy hivishness, trust, and morale.