East TN Alliance Monthly Meeting

* Local Focus: Tennessee

This month we’ll be discussing “Collective Illusions.” Is polarization a collective illusion? Do we assume that other members of our tribe all support the things we think are absurd but go along with to avoid conflict? Do we assume that members of the other tribe all believe the same things as their most viral lunatic fringe? How do our assumptions about what others believe contribute to the ongoing environment of polarization and are there techniques we can use to get people to open up about what they truly believe?

Todd Rose wrote a book on this subject, and there are several interviews with him available on YouTube where he discusses it.
https://www.toddrose.com/collectiveillusions/

Monica Guzman gives the book a big endorsement in this Instagram post.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFx9t8XTNJG/

Here’s a short 5-minute video on cultural norms and collective illusions.

This is a 12-minute video on collective illusions that summarizes it pretty well, and tells the story of Vaclav Havel, a writer whose stories about the collective illusion of communism led to one of the only peaceful movements that has overthrown an authoritarian government.

Another 12-minute interview with Mike Rowe that talks about collective illusions around meaningful work, education, and success.

This is the podcast episode that introduced me to Todd Rose. It’s a 90-minute interview but it’s really fascinating because he goes into detail about this survey technique he uses to ensure that people reveal their true beliefs by giving them “plausible deniability” about their answers.

Let’s use these videos as a jumping off point to talk about how we can have better conversations, and what we can learn from the example they set!