Are We Really All That Different? The Current Contentious State of Political Discourse and the Desire to Cancel Others
Description
It's been called 'The Age of Outrage', often filled with hyper-partisan political debates on issues such as Brexit, immigration, systemic racism, and even on the brand of beans Americans choose to buy. But are the differences in our values and in our ideologies all that define us? Why do we spend less time on our many commonalities, and what would be the benefit of focusing more on those similarities? Is there anything that can be done to address the modern-day phenomenon known as 'cancel culture'? Our guest on this podcast is Dr Paul Hanel, a social psychologist at Essex, with a particular focus on values, and on political psychology. We spoke with Paul recently about his work on the differences and on the similarities that exist among individuals in society, despite a tendency for us to focus largely the differences. We also had a chat about ‘cancel culture’ – and the possible ways that we can move from canceling to listening. Host: Dr Philip Cozzolino
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