Post in Action - Emotion

Apr 24 13:13 UTC

The role of emotion in public deliberation is itself a subject of
heated debate among people who think about and study deliberation.  I
personally think it's unhelpful to try to exclude emotion.  If a
group is trying to reach a common understanding, emotions may be
obvious clues as to how we value competing considerations or as to
the frame in which we see problems.  If someone says, "Well, I'm
disgusted by this - period," it's a conversation stopper.  But if
people are willing to explore why they are angry or frightened or
disgusted or fond, etc., I would think it would make for a richer and
more genuine conversation.