The best podcast I’ve listened to this year is an interview by Lex Bolmeijer with Bart Brandsma (in Dutch), an expert in the field of polarization.
Brandsma is a Dutch philosopher. He travels the world to study and train governments about the dynamics around “us versus them” thinking. He wrote Polarization: Understanding the Dynamics of Us-Them Thinking in 2016.
Brandsma says we’re stuck in a world where people feel pressured to take sides. When politicians push us to choose, we create more division. As one group picks a side, others feel they must respond. It’s a cycle that most of us understand—and many of us feed into. By constantly dividing ourselves into opposing camps, we make polarization worse. I often have a strong opinion, so I do too!
The solution, according to Brandsma, is for everyone (media, politics, you and me) to pay more attention to – and become part of – the “silent middle”. That is something I never really thought about deeply, and something I definitely don’t do. Although it makes so much sense.
This video explains very clearly what happens when polarization “happens” and how we can stop the cycle of more and more polarization:
A current personal example:
During the current war between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people, almost every person I know picks a side. I have been doing that for a long time, too. Brandsma tells me I would do the world a much better service by being in the “silent middle” in this conflict, rather than “fuelling” the conflict by sharing my thoughts with everyone on which side is “wrong” in this conflict. It’s very counter-intuitive to think this way for me. But on the other hand, it totally makes sense that it’s actually counter-productive. The key is to empower and give voice to the “silent middle”.
To depolarize, you need to understand that you shouldn’t be fighting the poles that oppose each other, but instead should strengthen the silent group in the middle
It’s very difficult, but I’m trying. What do you think? Are you on my side 😉 ?
PS: This article in Imagine5 explains Brandsma’s philosophy much better than I do.
