Somerset Maugham wrote, “The fact that a great many people believe something is no guarantee of its truth.” Think about the divides in this country from the last presidential election to Covid 19. People on both sides believe their “truth” is the correct truth. No amount of facts can change either side’s belief in their “truth.” They will say something like, “Look, a ton of people believe that.”
You can attempt to show them that their belief is wrong. Take Covid 19. You can show them figures from the CDC about the effectiveness of the Covid 19 vaccines. They will just label those facts as propaganda. How can we get the two sides to talk to each other? As it is now, they won’t listen to each other, or they’ll cite their “truth.”
We must start with things both sides agree on, no matter how simple. “It’s sunny this morning, and it looks like it will be a good day.” What this really does is shows both sides they share a human belief. They are not some evil that’s trying to rule the world. If both sides see the humanity in the other, the differences won’t be so stark as to generate hatred. We need to try!
