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Elizabeth Lesser: Take "the Other" to lunch

  • Martin Luther King - I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be
  • Mother Theresa - The problem with the world is that we draw the circle of the family to small
  • We give too much voice to the most divisive amongst us
  • Book titles reflect this - Pinheads and patriots; Arguing with idiots
  • Negative otherizing morphs into violent extremism
  • Counteracting otherizing A strategy: Take the other to lunch
  • Agree on some ground rules - ahead of time
  • Be conversational, don't persuade, interrupt, be curious, listen, be real, don't try to change the other side, acknowledge that it's a first step
  • What issues concern you, what have you always wanted to ask someone from the other side
  • Two people dropping the pretence of being know it alls
  • Two people practicing ubuntu
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