Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
46 lines (42 loc) · 2.51 KB

deep-diversity.md

File metadata and controls

46 lines (42 loc) · 2.51 KB
Raw

Deep Diversity: Overcoming Us vs. Them

Setting the Stage:

  • Think of someone whose presence brings out your best self
  • What are some of the feelings that come along with being with this person
  • Then as a follow up, how frequently do you feel this within your/our organization?

Book:

Notes:

  • He started out his career with social justice and burned out, then transformed his work with neurology and psychology
  • Our brain is an anticipation machine; it separates things into boxes and categories
  • The difference between our brain (physical organ) and our mind (what the brain does)
    • Using a metaphor of a rider on an elephant. The rider is the conscious mind while the elephant is the unconscious mind
    • Moving from the elephant to the rider requires motivation and practice, practice, practice
    • We all need to uncover and unlearn at the unconscious level
  • Compassion starts with ourselves
  • How many of us have been in a room where the mood in the room is determined and transmitted by the one person who is the most emotionally expressive?
    • This is important because we react to emotionally to the identities of people even without our awareness
    • Empathy goes down in our perceived "threat groups"
  • Our brain registers "out groups" in a different part of the brain
    • Classifying as objects & things
    • This is the starting point of dehumanization
  • Neurology does not distinguish between progressive and conservatives
  • Compassion for out groups must be taught
  • 4 Activist Traps
    1. Poor self-care/high burn out
    • enjoy the small things
    • nurture relationships
    1. Despair -> Critical/Cynical
    • there is a line between critical thinking and cynicism
    1. Theory = "Truth"
    • trap of universal truth that explains everything
    • attempting to apply something linear when human psych is not at all linear
    1. Dehumanize allies/opponents
    • "not enoughness"
  • Solution: Emotional Literacy
    • Deep self-awareness
    • Self-regulation; especially under stress
    • Empathy
    • Relationship-building & conflict skills
  • neurologically it is easier for us to generate empathy for individuals over large groups
  • focusing on the brain rather than your and your privilege
  • Just keep in mind, "Were really good at raining on everyones parade... including our own"