Jokers to the left of me, Fools to the right....stuck in the middle with you

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. 

                                                                                 —Bertrand Russell

With everything swirling about lately I find Russell’s social commentary to be quite appropriate.  A friend shared some brain research from a recent presentation regarding the state of hyper-polarization within society.  A great obstacle is that governing and decision-making structures rarely lend themselves to collaboration and understanding. And when granted an opportunity unfortunately most people choose not to engage.  On top of this our brain further contributes to this problem:

• We crave certainty and consistency. 
• We are suckers for the good vs. evil narrative.
• We strongly prefer to gather with the like minded. 
• We filter and cherry pick evidence to support our views. 
• We avoid dilemmas, tensions, and tough choices. 

These factors do not exactly help the current of state of polarization.  Very little will always be certain, especially now and in the future.  Perpetuating an Us vs Them mentality drives the wedge deeper.  Avoiding those that see the world or issues differently keeps us in an echo chamber.  Research is valuable, but people rely on questionable studies to prove a point and further devalue the role of empirical evidence. Avoidance of honest but tough conversations get us the same results every time: nowhere.