What Polarization Teaches us About Harm and Human Understanding

We’re discussing political polarization in this moral psychology podcast, wrapping up a conversation with Dr. Kurt Gray, professor of moral psychology and neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill, and the director of the Deepest Beliefs Lab in the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding. Moral psychology is the descriptive understanding of our moral judgments, or concern with not just how people should make moral decisions, but how they actually do. Why does this matter?

In Dr. Gray’s words:
"To understand our contentious and divided political moments where people are unwilling to discuss politics across the aisle or entertain even that the other side is a reasonable human being in the way that you feel about yourself and your own side.

We do disagree already when it comes to politics. But where does this political disagreement come from? …Once you get that, then you can understand where this political animosity comes from. But it's really a question of moral disagreement. And for that you need to understand our moral psychology.”

Read the transcript of this episode

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