Opinion You Can Disagree Better The 2020 election is looming, and things are going to get heated. Having civil disagreements may seem impossible. But it isn’t.

If we want to find solutions, it’s vital that we learn how to disagree thoughtfully.

Below are three shareable videos offering simple tips for disagreeing better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w6_KAznoAs Copy Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOEkLcdhhn8 Copy Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnFfAFpRUCI Copy Link

These days, arguments can become a destructive land-grab for social media points, and quickly hit a dead end. At the moment, people are ready to pounce on anyone they deem “wrong.”

And someone is definitely wrong on the internet right now. Some of them are wrong in your social media feeds, and there’s a good chance you’re already friends with at least one such person. We get things wrong all the time.

So what do we do when we decide someone’s wrong? Engage — or not? Disagree loudly — or roll our eyes silently? Block them, or troll them?

A better option would be to make an impossible conversation possible through the techniques above.

Research confirms that central to influencing — or just productively engaging with — other humans is a sense of psychological safety. Letting friends (or strangers on the internet) who hold beliefs that you think are wrong know that you’re still friends (or still just strangers on the internet, not mortal enemies) reinforces that safety.

Peter Boghossian (@peterboghossian) is an assistant professor of philosophy at Portland State University. James Lindsay (@ConceptualJames) is a writer and researcher. They are the authors of “How to Have Impossible Conversations.”