Robb Willer: How to have better political conversations
Robb Willer: Cómo tener mejores conversaciones políticas
Robb Willer's political research has investigated various topics, including economic inequality, racial prejudice, masculine overcompensation and Americans' views of climate change. Full bio
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como la mayoría de la gente,
as most people do,
is getting worse in our country,
está cada vez más polarizado;
between the left and the right
entre izquierda y derecha
in really any of our lifetimes.
lo que hemos vivido nunca.
if research backs up your intuition.
que respalden su intuición.
the answer is sadly yes.
la respuesta es tristemente que sí.
have grown further apart.
se han alejado cada vez más.
in these ideological silos,
en unos silos ideológicos,
talking only to like-minded others
con gente con las mismas ideas
to live in different parts of the country.
en partes diferentes del país.
most alarming of all of it
animosity on both sides.
de ambas partes.
don't like one another.
They don't want to date one another.
No quieren salir juntos.
they find each other less attractive,
se encuentran menos atractivos
their children to marry someone
a sus hijos casados con
the students that I work with,
hablo con mis estudiantes
some sort of social pattern --
y a veces pregunto:
with this pattern?
con este patrón?
with political polarization?
con la polarización política?
we're in a zombie apocalypse movie.
en una película de apocalipsis zombi.
and destroy society.
y destruir a la sociedad.
in the zombie apocalypse movie,
del apocalipsis zombi
it's being propagated by the other people,
lo propagan los otros.
to what we hold dear,
a lo que nos importa,
in the army of the undead.
del ejército de los no muertos.
they think they're in?
that they're the good guys
de ser los buenos
that they think that they're Brad Pitt
que ellos son Brad Pitt
that we're all a part of this.
todos somos parte de esto.
is that we can be a part of the solution.
ser parte de la solución.
at polarization in everyday life?
la polarización en el día a día?
and communicate with
y comunicarnos
that I and my colleague, Matt Feinberg,
que a mi colega Matt Feinberg y a mí
doing research on this topic.
sobre ese tema.
that we discovered
que descubrimos,
for understanding polarization
para entender la polarización,
is undergirded by a deeper moral divide.
en una división moral más profunda.
in the history of political psychology
en la historia de la psicología política
by Jon Haidt and Jesse Graham,
por Jon Haidt y Jesse Graham,
tend to endorse different values
tienden a respaldar diferentes valores
tend to endorse values like equality
tienden a apoyar valores como la igualdad,
and protection from harm
y la protección contra el peligro
values like loyalty, patriotism,
valores como la lealtad, el patriotismo,
y la pureza moral
that maybe this moral divide
que esta división moral
for understanding how it is
talk to one another
conservadores hablan
seem to talk past one another
no se escuchan
para un estudio
to write a persuasive essay
un ensayo persuasivo
in support of same-sex marriage.
en apoyo al matrimonio homosexual.
tended to make arguments
tendían a argumentar
of equality and fairness.
de igualdad y de justicia.
to love whoever they choose,"
de amar a quien elija",
estadounidenses gays --
as other Americans."
que el resto de la población".
that 69 percent of liberals
que el 69 % de los liberales
moral values in constructing their essay,
más liberales al escribir su ensayo,
one of the more conservative moral values,
a uno de los más conservadores,
to be trying to persuade conservatives.
que convencer a los conservadores.
and had them make persuasive arguments
al escribir argumentos convincentes
the official language of the US,
la lengua oficial de EE.UU.,
political position,
clásica conservadora,
much better at this.
mejor que los liberales.
conservative moral values,
morales conservadores
invoked a liberal moral value,
un valor moral liberal,
to be targeting liberals for persuasion.
dirigiéndose a los liberales.
why we're in trouble here. Right?
they're their most deeply held beliefs.
son sus más profundas creencias.
to fight and die for their values.
y a morir por sus valores.
just to agree with you
solo por coincidir con usted
want to agree with you on anyway?
no quiero estar de acuerdo?
you're making to your Republican uncle
que le hacen a su tío republicano
just have to change his view,
que cambiar su punto de vista,
his underlying values, too,
sus valores subyacentes, también.
that we call moral reframing,
se llama reformulación moral
in a series of experiments.
en una serie de experimentos.
and conservatives to a study
para un estudio
attitudes surveyed.
sobre su postura medioambiental.
pro-environmental essay
relativamente convencional
of care and protection from harm.
de cuidado y protección ante el daño.
"In many important ways
"estamos causando daños reales
to the places we live in,"
a los lugares en los que vivimos"
that we take steps now
que empecemos a actuar
from being done to our Earth."
del planeta Tierra".
a really different essay
the conservative value of moral purity.
conservador de pureza moral.
and skies pure is of vital importance."
y cielos puros es de vital importancia".
to be disgusting."
algo repugnante".
can help us preserve
puede ayudarnos a preservar
about the places we live."
lugares en los que vivimos".
to read just a nonpolitical essay.
so we could get a baseline.
comparación para tener una referencia.
cuando encuestamos a la gente
attitudes afterwards,
it didn't matter what essay they read.
hubiesen leído los liberales.
pro-environmental attitudes regardless.
a tener posturas proambientales.
for environmental protection.
la protección del medioambiente.
of progressive environmental policies
medioambientales progresistas
de la pureza moral
one of the other two essays.
los otros dos ensayos.
who read the moral purity essay
que leyeron el ensayo de la pureza moral
that they believed in global warming
que creían en el calentamiento global
didn't even mention global warming.
mencionaba el calentamiento global.
medioambiental relacionado.
this moral reframing effect was.
de la reformulación moral.
of different political issues.
de problemas políticos.
or national health insurance,
homosexual o el seguro de salud nacional
political issues to conservative values
liberales con valores conservadores
to the right on conservative policy issues
en cuestiones políticas conservadores
the official language of the US,
la lengua oficial de EE.UU.,
policy issues to liberal moral values
conservadoras a valores liberales
have the same clear message:
tienen un mensaje claro:
someone on some policy,
de alguna política
to their underlying moral values.
sus valores morales subyacentes.
aquí esta noche?
it's something we really struggle to do.
que cuesta mucho hacer.
to persuade somebody on a political issue,
a alguien de una cuestión política
frente a un espejo.
as we rehearse our own reasons
explicamos nuestras razones
some sort of political position.
un tipo de posición política.
these reframed moral arguments,
estos argumentos reformulados moralmente
empathy and respect."
somebody in this country.
a alguien en el país.
en un apocalipsis zombi.
de dos compañeros policía.
there's a white cop and a black cop,
y un policía negro
y otro organizado.
to come together and they cooperate,
que aunar esfuerzos y cooperar
that they had to cross. Right?
tuvieron que cruzar, ¿verdad?
es el segundo acto
than ever before.
están más separadas que nunca.
where we are in this country,
en este país;
of a buddy cop movie --
en una película de policías
to come back together.
de ponernos de acuerdo.
is going to start with us.
es nuestra.
all the things that divide us.
because this hate and contempt
y este desprecio
the very fabric of our society.
de nuestra sociedad.
a los otros y a nuestro país
to let them hate us either.
dejarles odiarnos tampoco.
that we owe our fellow citizens.
les debemos a nuestros conciudadanos.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robb Willer - Social psychologistRobb Willer's political research has investigated various topics, including economic inequality, racial prejudice, masculine overcompensation and Americans' views of climate change.
Why you should listen
Robb Willer is a professor of sociology, psychology and organizational behavior at Stanford University. He studies the role of morality in politics. His research shows how moral values, typically a source of ideological division, can also be used to bring people together. His political research has investigated various topics, including economic inequality, racial prejudice, masculine overcompensation and Americans' views of climate change.
Willer has won numerous awards for his teaching and research, including the Golden Apple Teaching Award, the only award given by UC-Berkeley’s student body. Willer's class, "Self and Society," was the highest enrollment class at UC-Berkeley. His consulting clients have included the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, the Last Resort Exoneration Project and the Department of Justice.
Willer's writing has appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post, including his op-eds "The Secret to Political Persuasion" and "Is the Environment a Moral Cause?"
Willer received a Ph.D from Cornell University and a BA from the University of Iowa. Before becoming a professor, he worked as a dishwasher, construction worker, mover, line cook and union organizer.
Robb Willer | Speaker | TED.com