Let’s Disagree to Agree

An objective perspective on subjective perspectives

This is not the first time we have experienced this within ideological conflicts but such phenomena is clearly on the rise: People seeing the same events and having diametrically opposed interpretations.

The list too long but to calibrate this post I will mention Renee Good, January 6th, George Floyd, and also policies like invading Venezuela, tariffs, the Big Beautiful Bill and DOGE cuts. Americans are divided right down ideology lines as to how these events unfolded, the causes and the impact.

There is a name for this: Perspectivism .

Or Subjectivism. Or Epistemological Dualism…

Even within philosophy and sociology there are divides but each is more or less defined by the idea that knowledge of the world is determined by one’s individual perspective, and no single viewpoint is universally correct; an individual’s own mental activity and subjective experience are the primary sources of their knowledge and reality depends on someone’s awareness of it.

Epistemological dualism veers slightly as a gap between an object as it is in reality and the object as it is perceived or experienced by an individual. Replace “object” with “Trump” and you’ll see where I’m going.

Or replace it with “ICE” or any of the above figures and events I mentioned. Just this morning I saw a post defending Trump as a peaceful, wise, open minded leader and chastising Democrats as thugs and violent insurrectionists. As most reading this can imagine, my head exploded.

My head has exploded many times before because we are in the Age of Cognitive Dissonance, although this time I decided to resist my usual volley of facts and hard copy examples to explain obvious dissimilarities and incongruities and instead look at the phenomena of seeing the same thing so differently.

I was a philosophy minor in college and I’ve wondered since when that might become useful. Maybe this is the time.

Late 19th century philosopher, William James, developed a theory of “empiricism” that he called “Radical Empiricism.” It expanded traditional empiricism by asserting that reality is composed of the entirety of experience, including both “things” (sensory data) and the relationships between things; viewing mind and matter as part of one continuous stream of experience, not separately. He argued that mental states (feelings, emotions ) are as real as physical objects and the idea that only tangible facts constitute reality is false.

Boom. Crash. Uh-oh.

And I agree. Not in a truly rational sense but in the sense that we actually live in; inside our minds and within the context of our emotions and sensibilities. Therefore, the attempts that I’ve made to “convince” opponents of my truth or to demonstrate with data the erroneous nature of theirs- is futile.

FUTILE.

Using James’ Radical Empiricism and the clear evidence of Perspectivism in our socio-political divide, there is a path to follow to effect change AND to keep ones brain from exploding. It is, however, painstaking, difficult, requires patience, fortitude, and to alter our immediate expectations of results.

It is the demonstration of ideas to create the experience of them. Every one of us is shaped by emotions and needs. Recognizing that is a key to understanding someone elses interpretation of things. Cognitive filters come from existing beliefs, biases, and determine the attention to process sensory information and assign meaning.

We usually believe our interpretation is the direct reflection of reality, validating our worldview.

I hear the critics. And the critics are correct. We read Trump’s rambling diatribes castigating us for exercising our rights or for questioning the validity of actions from an unscrupulous liar. We see with our own eyes the indisputable evidence of a woman being shot in the head by an emasculated ICE agent on orders to betray constitutional rights. We read the bi-partsan committee reports confirming a fair election yet with our own eyes, again, saw MAGA zealots breaking windows and beating a Capitol policeman to overturn the result. We see Confederate and even Nazi flags at Trump rallies and we know why they support him. So, on what grounds can we allow their reality to be equal to ours???

We don’t. What we do is realize that is their reality and if people see things as they do, no amount of convincing with facts, data, evidence, photographs, videos, or ironclad rhetoric is going to change their perspective. Not in a large enough sense. A few people do change, but America is at a nearly even split.

What we do is demonstrate democracy, demonstrate the principles of the Constitution, demonstrate empathy, and demonstrate active listening. That means that we “demonstrate” as well. We must show what it means to uphold our rights. The answer to this deadlock is not a passive approach, far from it, it is to exercise freedom and express through words and actions the glorious benefits of a vibrant, diverse, and free society. We must show up en mass to make clear that we understand where we stand. Not by throwing stones, carrying clubs or God forbid, guns, but with voices, in unison, marching together.

It is painstaking, difficult, requires patience, fortitude and to alter our immediate expectations of results.