Discourse and Civility

Note: This topic was mentioned during the call but not discussed in depth.

Jerry Michalski raised the question of what happened to discourse and civility as related to curiosity.

Jerry's Question

"What happened to listening? To discourse? To critical thinking? To civility?"

This suggests a perceived decline in:

Listening - truly hearing others
Discourse - productive exchange of ideas
Critical thinking - examining claims and reasoning
Civility - respectful engagement

Connection to Curiosity

Discourse Requires Curiosity

Genuine discourse needs:

Curiosity about others' views
Willingness to understand before judging
Questions rather than just assertions
Openness to being wrong

Fear Kills Both

From Fear and Self-Preservation:

"Are we now afraid to take a stand? Are we confused about where the stands are? Do we think that taking a stand has become dangerous, because of the level of... the poor level of discourse out there in the public arena."

A vicious cycle:

Poor discourse makes curiosity risky
Fear kills curiosity
Without curiosity, discourse worsens
Civility breaks down

Polarization and Compartmentalization

Alex Kladitis's point about Belief Systems and Curiosity:

When we're polarized:

We're incurious about "the other side"
We compartmentalize contradictions
We avoid discourse that might challenge beliefs
Civility becomes performative at best

What Changed?

Possible factors:

Technology and Obsolescence - social media dynamics
Anonymous posting - reduces accountability (per Scott Moehring)
Permanent record - "the internet is forever"
Echo Chambers - reduced exposure to difference
Economic stress - less patience for nuance
Institutional decline - loss of shared norms

The Etiquette Connection

Gil Friend noted curiosity used to be taught as Etiquette:

When etiquette traditions broke down:

We lost shared rules for discourse
Civility norms became unclear
Different groups have different expectations
Cross-cultural discourse gets harder

Can We Rebuild?

If curiosity and discourse are linked:

Teaching curiosity might rebuild discourse
Better discourse might enable curiosity
Civility creates safety for questions
Questions enable understanding

Tools that might help:

Site Navigation