Newsletter #6

July 31, 2017

Frontiers Seminar Unit 4: Moving Toward a Complexity-Oriented Paradigm, Continued.

• Social and Psychological Complexity -- Those who seek power-over others are dealing better with social & psychological complexity. This needs to change! (July 6, 2017)
• Mari Fitzduff's An Introduction to Neuroscience for the Peacebuilder-Part 1 - Neuroscience can explain why so many peacebuilding interventions don't work as hoped --and how to do better.  (July 11, 2017)
• Mari Fitzduff's An Introduction to Neuroscience for the Peacebuilder-Part 2 - Neuroscience can explain why so many peacebuilding interventions don't work as hoped --and how to do better.  (July 13, 2017)
  • ​D16: Neuropsychology and Conflict What can and should peacebuilders do about the predispositions described in this video?  Particularly, how do we address people's emotional needs as well as their rational interests and needs in our peacebuilding work? And, how can we work within the constraints of non-rational/emotional thinking, rather than engage in a futile effort to convert all thinking to the rational approach?
• Engineering and Medical Troubleshooting - Complexity-oriented approaches to conflict are more like medicine and less like engineering. (July 17, 2017)
  • Discussion #17: Conflict Pathologies
• The Scale Up Problem --  We need to stop thinking in terms of mediation triads, and scale up conflict work to societal levels. (July 20, 2017)
• The Google Traffic Metaphor -- Google traffic and other traffic control activities can teach us a lot about dealing with conflict. (July 24, 2017)

Fundamentals Seminar Unit 5: Examining Causes of Intractable Conflicts: Overlay (or Complicating) Factors, Continued

• Stereotypes -- Genocides start with negative stereotyping--is this where the US wants to go? (June 29, 2017)
• Enemy Images -- Enemy images deepen our socio-economics & political problems, while they make effective problem solving impossible. (June 30, 2017)
• Cultural and Worldview Frames - Worldview frames go a long way in explaining why the US is becoming increasingly polarized.(July 7, 2017)
• Rational and nonrational decision-making - Emotions cannot be ignored in intractable conflicts--they are the elephant that a rider only tenuously controls. (July 14, 2017)
• Psychological Dynamics of Intractable Conflict -In intractable conflicts, entire societies can get tangled up in destructive psychological dynamics. (July 18, 2017)
• Ethos of Conflict - Since the conflict ethos feeds continuation of the conflict, that needs to change for conflicts to be resolved. (July 28, 2017)

Recent Posts from the Additional Resources Blog

• Trump Transforming Rural America -- More listening: a case study of how Trump is transforming the way one rural Colorado town thinks about politics. -- 07/29/2017
• Fear of Falling / Love of Trump -- From Thomas Edsall, an explanation of why so many relatively successful people support Trump. -- 07/29/2017
• Stiglitz: Here's How to Fix Inequality -- An important new Stiglitz book on fixing the inequality problem. How can we build a consensus for implementation? -- 07/28/2017
• Let’s Get Excited About Maintenance! -- An argument for getting more people excited about maintaining what we have (rather than creating something new). -- 07/28/2017
• John McCain's Speech -- McCain's speech says much that needs to be said. How can we get more politicians to fight for these principles? -- 07/27/2017
• Curiosity Underemphasized -- A genuinely sound idea for improving education: cultivate curiosity. -- 07/27/2017
• Trump Jr.’s Russia meeting -- From the perspective of someone experienced in "spy craft," an analysis of the Trump Jr. Russia meeting. -- 07/26/2017
• Turkey's Erdogan on the Defensive -- A profile of Turkey's giant nonviolent protest March. What can be done to help more such efforts succeed? -- 07/26/2017
• Bill Browder's Testimony -- Must-read testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee explaining Russian money laundering and the Magnitsky Act -- 07/25/2017
• Male Unemployment & Video Games -- Yet another factor in the complex causes of inequality, video games have gotten too good! -- 07/17/2017
• Are you a Dream Hoarder? -- Tough questions and a game for those fortunate enough to be in the top 20%, are you a "dream hoarder?" -- 07/17/2017
• More Professionalism, Less Populism -- A question worth considering: Have we taken direct democracy too far with too much superficial public involvement? -- 07/17/2017
• Declaration of Disruption -- At a time when everyone seems to want to be a "disrupter," pray for those who promote stability. -- 07/17/2017
• Millennials and the 'Success Sequence' -- Conservative ideas for dealing with poverty and inequality that are worth considering as part of the solution. -- 07/16/2017
• Facebook: The Problem & Solution -- More on things that Facebook might be able to do to promote more constructive civic engagement. -- 07/16/2017
• Partisan Views on Wealth -- Pew report on Republican and Democratic differences on the causes of inequality. No wonder we can't agree! -- 07/15/2017
• Two Questions About Trump and Republicans -- From George Lakoff, "Two Questions About Trump and Republicans that Stump Progressives". -- 07/15/2017
• How People Like You Fuel Extremism -- We all should be asking this question, how are people like me fueling extremism? -- 07/14/2017
• Compassion in the Face of Stereotypes -- A too rare example of how a single act of compassion can help break down destructive stereotypes. -- 07/13/2017
• Re-Committing to Civility -- An impassioned and persuasive appeal from Orrin Hatch for civility in politics. Why won't more leaders say this? -- 07/13/2017
• FARC Completes Disarmament Process -- Good news: after 53 years FARC completes disarmament process in Colombia! -- 07/13/2017
• Putin's Russia -- A disturbing window into what it's like to live in Putin's Russia. -- 07/12/2017
• Present at the Destruction -- From Politico, a persuasive, sad, and alarming argument of "How Rex Tillerson is destroying the State Department. -- 07/12/2017
• The Problem With Participatory Democracy -- An argument that we need to quit treating politics as a hobby and start treating it as a civic responsibility. -- 07/11/2017
• The Far Left on College Campuses -- A provocative exploration of the role of the "far left" on college campuses and its relationship with "liberals." -- 07/11/2017
• Everyone is Mad at Everyone -- New data from Pew reveals that the 40% of the US population that favors compromise is the least politically active! -- 07/10/2017
• Good News, Despite What You’ve Heard -- Evidence that, despite our focus on the world's many problems, there is lots of good news. Can we cultivate more? -- 07/10/2017
• Nature Has Lost Its Meaning -- A lengthy and informative look at the conflict between the many different ways of thinking about "nature." -- 07/09/2017
• The G.O.P. Rejects Conservatism -- An exploration of the disconnect between real conservative thinking and the ideas being promoted by the GOP. -- 07/08/2017
• The Perils of Meritocracy -- More food for thought about the meritocracy's legitimacy and its responsibilities to the larger society. -- 07/07/2017
• How the Left Lost Its Mind -- For those who complain about extremist, fake-news, right wing media; a story of extremist, fake news on the left. -- 07/07/2017
• Getting Comfortable With Uncertainty -- A psychological complexity-based explanation of "benefits of getting comfortable with uncertainty." -- 07/06/2017
• Facebook, Free Expression and the Power of a Leak -- In the public sphere, the government enforces free-speech rules, in social media it's companies like Facebook! -- 07/06/2017
• Just Wait -- For those fuzzy about the increasingly relevant history of Watergate, an in-depth comparison of Nixon and Trump. -- 07/05/2017
• Judging al-Qaida’s record, Part I -- Is this how the war against Al Qaeda sort of ends? An especially good two-part assessment. -- 07/05/2017
• The World Is Even Less Stable Than It Looks -- The good and the bad and the ugly, a comprehensive overview of the state of the world and what to worry about. -- 07/04/2017

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