Failure to Recognize the Need to Limit Destructive Conflict

3. Factors That Make Conflict Intractable

Many people think that hyper-polarization and conflict, even highly-destructive conflict, is "normal" and unavoidable. Others go so far as to think it is desirable, as they see it as the only or best way to meet their interests and needs.  What people don't realize, is that there is almost always a more constructive approach to meeting those interests and needs which will create less opposition, and hence make it more likely that those interests and needs can actually be met. 

People also don't recognize the extreme threat that escalation and hyper-polarization cause, both to individuals, and to societies as a whole. Both escalation and polarization can intensify very fast, but reversing them after they have become intense is much more difficult.  Given that violence (even large-scale, lethal violence) is a natural outcome of extreme escalation, and extreme polarization drives such escalation, we believe that we should do all that we can to limit (and if necessary work to reverse) polarization and escalation in our families, organizations, and societies. And in so doing, we are also likely to be better able to meet our individual interests and needs, as people will be able to work together more effectively to address those interests and needs.

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