Cass Sunstein has a new book out “Republic.com 2.0,” (an update of his 2001 book “Republic.com”) in which he discusses the internet’s impact on political discourse in the modern age. Certainly, with the rise of the internet we have seen the political discourse stray from what we believe should be the purview of government. Rather than focus on kitchen table issues like education, health care, home ownership, retirement, trade, and taxes, we find ourselves talking about religion, social groups, CIA operatives, runaway brides, or sexual behavior. It is time for the new generation of business, political, and civic professionals to establish a voice about issues that matter to all Americans.
Of course, the danger of providing a voice to those with similar beliefs is falling prey to the “echo chamber.” People of like mind tend to reinforce beliefs rather than challenge them. In “The Internet is making us stupid” (Salon.com, 11/7/07), Ben Van Heuvelen asks Sunstein more about what he calls “The Colorado Experiment:”
“The way our Colorado experiment worked is, we got people from Boulder, a liberal place, together in small groups to talk about climate change, same-sex civil unions and affirmative action. On the same day, we got people in Colorado Springs, a conservative place, to talk about the same three issues. We asked them to record their views anonymously first, then to deliberate on them in small groups, then to record their views anonymously afterward. What we found was that on these issues, the Boulder people, before they started to talk, were pretty liberal, but there was a distribution of views, a degree of diversity. After they talked, they were significantly more liberal and less diverse. So, deliberation among our liberal citizens of Boulder produced more extremism and less diversity. In Colorado Springs, after they talked to one another, they went far to the right. They started out somewhat open-minded on these issues, somewhat diverse, and after discussion the diversity was squelched and the extremism was increased.
I think this is a clue to what is happening in the political domain all over the United States: People through their own voluntary behavior are replicating our Colorado experiment. Or, savvy political entrepreneurs are creating the conditions of our experiment because they want to decrease internal diversity.”
HSG is built on a diversity model; we strive to find leaders across the politicla spectrum to find common ground and create change. A recent illustration of this is our October Bi-Partisan Dinner, which focused on No Child Left Behind. There was one point in the evening when I looked across the table and saw Senator Graham (R-SC), Senator Stabenow (D-MI), John Podesta, and Ken Mehlman nodding together in agreement. Virtual communities provide an opportunity to bridge geographic fjords that the Colorado experiment highlight. Had the room in Boulder teleconferenced with the room in Colorado Springs, might the results have been different? It is the goal of online exchanges, like the HSG Exchange to encourage discussion, opposition, and re-evalutation. Frankly, I can’t see what’s so stupid about that. Of course, you might disagree with me, but that’s the whole point.
— Lonny Stern | Communications & Outreach Director
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