So how do we stop this illogical thinking? The initial reaction of our elephants is incredibly hard to control (especially with regards to these areas). In order to think more rationally, we often have to distance ourselves from the emotional attachments we put on things. This is one reason why political parties, religious beliefs, and nationalism can be so dangerous when we strongly identify ourselves with them: we stop thinking issues over rationally and just accept things with a form of tribe mentality. Someone who considers themselves far left or far right will rarely question their tribe’s commonly agreed upon policies. They end up becoming just another sheep in the herd and go along with whatever ideas are portrayed to them.

The next question becomes: how do we distance ourselves from these topics? While distancing oneself from their religious beliefs in order to think rationally can be a seemingly insurmountable task, politics is often an easier area to address. The simplest answer is to stop considering yourself one side or the other. In this regard we can process everything from a step back and decide whether we agree with what thoughts are being pushed out. However, it typically seems that we are somewhat forced to pick a side in order to have a say in who is elected. Therefore, it is much more reasonable to choose which party you align with but be very hesitant and thoughtful about the ideas that you hear. We have to remember that everyone believes themselves to be right, but the world is often not so black and white. Each side holds their unique beliefs and ideas due to their own upbringing, education, and moral guidelines. Just because they don’t align with yours does not make them wrong (nor does it always make them right).

When a debate happens between two people who wholeheartedly believe their views to be infallible, the result is each person trying to convince the other why they are wrong. If we can accept that any belief (including our own) is susceptible to being false, we can instead have debates where the goal is to work together to find an answer. Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors, writes in his book Principles:

I just want to be right — I don’t care if the right answer comes from me.

I think it’s also necessary to mention that I am not naive enough to propose we should agree and be understanding with every belief. After all, occurrences like The Third Reich were started with good intentions. I am however proposing that for the most part we should accept that our beliefs are not the absolute truth and open to fallacies. We can then hopefully become more understanding of why others might disagree with our views. This can allow us to communicate and cooperate with one another much easier. If we prevent ourselves from trying to understand other people’s perspective, we will only result in demonizing the people who disagree. If we can remember that almost every problem or issue in the world isn’t black and white but instead some shade of gray, perhaps we can stop seeing people who disagree with us as immoral and begin to see them as our neighbors with differing opinions and moral codes.