The 68th Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Legislative Conference is taking place in St. Paul this week from July 14-17. This conference is centered around eleven midwestern states and four Canadian provinces.
The keynote speaker was Jonathan Haidt, a man who has been doing a lot of work on what causes us to disagree and he provides suggestions on what we can do to repair the divisions that are causing friction in our society and our legislative bodies. One of his books is titled THE RIGHTEOUS MIND: WHY GOOD PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED BY POLITICS AND RELIGION. A forum that included the speaker and four men who also have expertise in this area followed Mr. Haidt’s speech. One thought is that we need to our extend relationships rather than only socializing with those whose philosophies are the same as ours. We need to be willing to understand differing thoughts instead of doing everything to rationalize our positions.
For additional info see Righteous Mind.