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Constructive Conflict Guide >
Specialized Massively Parallel Roles / Tasks >
Conflict Actors
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Technical Experts
Technical Experts investigate the extraordinarily complex challenges facing modern society -- things like climate change, inflationary pressures, or infectious diseases that can be very hard for the general public to see or understand. They help develop solutions to these problems, help non-experts judge the relative risks of different choices, and evaluate the likely results of different policy options.
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Skeptics
Skeptics ask hard questions of the experts, pushing them to explain their thinking and respond to alternative lines of reasoning in ways that force them to improve the quality of their analyses and explanations.
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Technical Reporters
Technical Reporters (as well as interpreters and educators) help translate the technical jargon so that the general public can understand "what the science says." They also often emphasize the practical implications of studies and the reasons why they should (or should not) be seen as trustworthy.
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Evaluators
Evaluators help incorporate public values into the analytical process. Scientists can tell us, within some range of uncertainty, the nature of the problems we face and they can estimate the likely consequences of options for addressing those problems. They cannot, however, say what policy is best for a community or a nation. Evaluators help do that.
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Science Reformers
Science Reformers focus on holding scientists and technical organizations to high professional standards and protecting them from political pressures that undermine the quality of their work.
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Factual Disputes
Disputes over facts have always been present in technical and environmental conflicts. But the ease in creating "fake facts" has made these kinds of disputes much more common, and difficult to resolve, and it can be very hard for lay people to figure out which "experts" are speaking the truth, and which are not.
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Accurately Communicating Factual Information That People Can Use
Given the amount of disinformation floating around, people tend to distrust "facts," unless they reinforce what they already know, or at least come from a trusted source. Here is information about how to be such a source and how to communicate facts in ways people will understand and believe.
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Resolve Fact-Based Sources of Conflict
If conflict is fueled by suspicion, assumptions and misunderstandings, then one of the simplest ways to reduce it is to find out the facts of the situation. Every conflict resolution process needs a solid base of facts to stand on. However, agreeing on "the facts," can be, in itself, a challenging conflict resolution problem.
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Distinguish Factual vs Value Differences
Empirical facts about "what is" are very different from moral or value distinctions about what "should be." Clearly distinguishing between those two is essential for good decision making.
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Limit the Influence of "Fake Facts"
"Disinformation" or "fake facts" are everywhere. They are so ubiquitous, that it is almost impossible to figure out what is true, and what is not. But truth matters. Yet facts will come back to bite us if we get it wrong. So making the effort to sort through fake from real facts is essential to good decision making.
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Technical Experts
Technical Experts investigate the extraordinarily complex challenges facing modern society -- things like climate change, inflationary pressures, or infectious diseases that can be very hard for the general public to see or understand. They help develop solutions to these problems, help non-experts judge the relative risks of different choices, and evaluate the likely results of different policy options.
Colleague Activities
The Consilience Project
A project exploring how our social systems and institutions need to be redesigned if free, open, non-authoritarian societies are to survive.
Colleague Activities
National Issues Forum's Issue Guides
On policing, elections, COVID vaccines, immigration, and lots of other controversial issues.
Colleague Activities
Centers for Disease Control
CDC is the US's leading science-based, data-driven, service organization that protects the public's health.
Colleague Activities
Center for AI Safety
AI experts and public figures express their concern about AI risk.
News and Opinion
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.
News and Opinion
World Health Organization
with 8000 health professionals WHO coordinates the world's response to health emergencies, promotes well-being, prevents disease and expands access to health care world wide.