Global warming is a hoax

That is what the presidential hopeful for the Republicans Michele Bachman says. Bachman is the new darling of the Tea Party Movement in the US and is a headline-grabbing brunette in the Sarah Palin mold.

My knee jerk reaction was great, now they are deliberately misleading us. Surely the evidence is overwhelming that mans activity on the planet is affecting our weather systems.

My more thoughtful next step was to think well she has no idea what she is talking about. A very good friend of mine, who is a Cambridge Graduate with a First in Science, says Global warming is real – and he does know what he is talking about.

But the thing that really hit me was to marvel at how little reason played in both Bachman’s opinion and my own.

The idea that humans are deeply rational beings that are reflective and reasonable is deeply embedded in the culture of the psyche. The concept of the rational voter or the logical buyer may not be quite as true as we think.

Have you ever, ever been in an argument in an attempt to persuade someone of your point of view and the other side says, “Stop right there. You are absolutely right. The logic of your argument is undisputable”? Me neither.

The reality is that most people start with a point of view and then collate the arguments to back it rather than the other way round. Our brains act as filing cabinets and filter out anything that doesn’t fit in the right box.

The negotiator knows this of course. If the logic of the argument is lost as often it is, the negotiator moves into another form of discussion and uses dialogue to understand the other person’s point of view and priorities. Only by doing this is he or she able to create a solution that allows both sides to ‘win’.

The skill is recognizing when to do this and how to use the information you gather to create proposals that move the process forward.

My mother used to say, “Don’t confuse me with the facts. I’ve already made up my mind”. Continuing on that path actually made it harder not easier to move her from her position. A well constructed proposal accepting her opinion but creating a mutually acceptable new position was always much more effective.

Who said, “man is a rational animal”? Aristotle I think.

Wonder if he ever met one?

©2011 Alan Smith, Scotwork UK, www.scotwork.co.nz