TEDWomen 2017
Joan Blades and John Gable: Free yourself from your filter bubbles
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Joan Blades and John Gable want you to make friends with people who vote differently than you do. A pair of political opposites, the two longtime pals know the value of engaging in honest conversations with people you don't immediately agree with. Join them as they explain how to bridge the gaps in understanding between people on opposite sides of the political spectrum -- and create opportunities for mutual listening and consideration (and, maybe, lasting friendships).
Joan Blades - Domestic peace advocate
Joan Blades shares a simple six-person conversation guide that helps people with differences get to know and even like each other. Full bioJohn Gable - Technologist, activist
John Gable is the founder and CEO of AllSides.com, which builds better understanding across divides. Full bio
Joan Blades shares a simple six-person conversation guide that helps people with differences get to know and even like each other. Full bioJohn Gable - Technologist, activist
John Gable is the founder and CEO of AllSides.com, which builds better understanding across divides. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Joan Blades: Do you have
politically diverse friends?
politically diverse friends?
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What do you talk about with them?
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I'm a progressive; I live
in a town full of progressives,
in a town full of progressives,
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and 15 years ago, I didn't have
any conservative friends.
any conservative friends.
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Now I have a wonderful mix of friends,
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and they include John.
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John Gable: I am not a progressive.
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I'm a Republican who grew up
in a Republican family
in a Republican family
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in the conservative South,
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and even worked in Republican politics,
locally and at the national level.
locally and at the national level.
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But the last 24 years,
I've been in technology
I've been in technology
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and living in a very progressive area.
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So I have a lot of progressive friends,
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including Joan.
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JB: I was born in Berkeley, California,
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a notoriously progressive college town.
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And I live there now.
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In 1998, six months into the Monica
Lewinsky-Clinton impeachment scandal,
Lewinsky-Clinton impeachment scandal,
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I helped cofound MoveOn.org
with a one-sentence petition:
with a one-sentence petition:
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"Congress must immediately
censure the president
censure the president
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and move on to pressing issues
facing the nation."
facing the nation."
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Now, that was actually
a very unifying petition in many ways.
a very unifying petition in many ways.
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You could love Clinton or hate Clinton
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and agree that the best thing
for the country was to move on.
for the country was to move on.
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As the leader of MoveOn,
I saw the polarization just continue.
I saw the polarization just continue.
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And I found myself wondering
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why I saw things so differently
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than many people
in other parts of the country.
in other parts of the country.
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So in 2005, when I had an opportunity
to get together with grassroots leaders
to get together with grassroots leaders
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across the political divide,
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I grabbed it.
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And I became friends with a lot of people
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I never had a chance to talk to before.
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And that included leadership
in the Christian Coalition,
in the Christian Coalition,
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often seen as on the right
the way MoveOn is seen as on the left.
the way MoveOn is seen as on the left.
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And this lead to me
showing up on Capitol Hill
showing up on Capitol Hill
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with one of the Christian Coalition
leaders, my friend,
leaders, my friend,
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to lobby for net neutrality.
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That was powerful.
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We turned heads.
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So this work was transformational for me.
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And I found myself wondering:
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How could vast numbers of people
have the opportunity
have the opportunity
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to really connect with people
that have very different views?
that have very different views?
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JG: I was born Oneida, Tennessee,
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right across the state border
from a small coal mining town,
from a small coal mining town,
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Stearns, Kentucky.
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And I lived there
for the first few years of my life,
for the first few years of my life,
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before moving to another small town,
Frankfort, Kentucky.
Frankfort, Kentucky.
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Basically, I grew up
in small-town America,
in small-town America,
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conservative at its heart.
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Now, Stearns and Berkeley --
they're a little different.
they're a little different.
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(Laughter)
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So in the '90s I moved out west
to a progressive area
to a progressive area
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to work in technology --
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worked at Microsoft, worked at Netscape.
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I actually became the product manager lead
for Netscape Navigator,
for Netscape Navigator,
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the first popular web browser.
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Now in the early days of the internet,
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we were just moved
and inspired by a vision:
and inspired by a vision:
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when we're connected to all
these different people around the world
these different people around the world
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and all these different ideas,
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we'll be able to make great decisions,
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and we'll be able to appreciate each other
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for the beautiful diversity
that the whole world has to offer.
that the whole world has to offer.
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Now I also, 20 years ago, gave a speech
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saying it might not work out that way,
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that we might actually be trained
to discriminate against each other
to discriminate against each other
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in new ways.
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So what happened?
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It's not like we just woke up one day
and decided to hate each other more.
and decided to hate each other more.
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Here's what happened.
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There's just too much noise --
too many people, too many ideas --
too many people, too many ideas --
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so we use technology
to filter it out a little bit.
to filter it out a little bit.
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And what happens?
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It lets in ideas I already agree with.
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It lets in the popular ideas,
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it lets in people just like me
who think just like me.
who think just like me.
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That sounds kind of good, right?
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Well, not necessarily,
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because two very scary things happen
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when we have such narrow worldviews.
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First, we become more extreme
in our beliefs.
in our beliefs.
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Second, we become less tolerant
of anybody who's different than we are.
of anybody who's different than we are.
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Does this sound familiar?
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Does this sound like modern America?
The modern world?
The modern world?
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Well, the good news is
that technology is changing,
that technology is changing,
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and it could change for the better.
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And that's, in fact,
why I started AllSides.com --
why I started AllSides.com --
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to create technologies and services
to free us from these filter bubbles.
to free us from these filter bubbles.
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The very first thing we did was create
technology that identifies bias,
technology that identifies bias,
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so we could show different
perspectives side by side
perspectives side by side
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to free us from the filter
bubbles of news media.
bubbles of news media.
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And then I met Joan.
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JB: So I met John outside
of Washington, DC,
of Washington, DC,
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with an idealistic group
of cross-partisan bridge builders,
of cross-partisan bridge builders,
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and we wanted to re-weave
the fabric of our communities.
the fabric of our communities.
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We believe that our differences
can be a strength,
can be a strength,
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that our values can be complimentary
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and that we have to overcome the fight
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so that we can honor everyone's values
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and not lose any of our own.
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I went for this wonderful walk with John,
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where I started learning
about the work he was doing
about the work he was doing
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to pierce the filter bubble.
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It was powerful;
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it was brilliant.
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Living in separate narratives is not good.
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We can't even have a conversation
or do collaborative problem-solving
or do collaborative problem-solving
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when we don't share the same facts.
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JG: So one thing you take away from today
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is if Joan Blades asks you
to go on a walk,
to go on a walk,
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go on that walk.
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(Laughter)
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It changed things. It really changed
the way I was thinking about things.
the way I was thinking about things.
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To free ourselves from the filter bubbles,
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we can't just think about
information filter bubbles,
information filter bubbles,
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but also relationship
and social filter bubbles.
and social filter bubbles.
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You see, we human beings -- we're not
nearly as smart as we think we are.
nearly as smart as we think we are.
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We don't generally make
decisions intellectually.
decisions intellectually.
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We make them emotionally, intuitively,
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and then we use our big old brains
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to rationalize anything
we want to rationalize.
we want to rationalize.
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We're not really like Vulcans
like Mr. Spock,
like Mr. Spock,
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we're more like bold cowboys
like Captain Kirk,
like Captain Kirk,
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or passionate idealists like Dr. McCoy.
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OK, for those of y'all who prefer
the new "Star Trek" crew,
the new "Star Trek" crew,
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here you go.
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(Laughter)
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JB: Don't forget the strong women!
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JG: Come on, strong women. OK.
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JB: All right.
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John and I are both "Star Trek" fans.
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What's not to love about a future
with that kind of optimism?
with that kind of optimism?
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JG: And having a good future in mind
is a big deal -- very important.
is a big deal -- very important.
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And understanding what the problem is
is very important.
is very important.
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But we have to do something.
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So what do we do?
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It's actually not that hard.
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We have to add diversity to our lives --
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not just information,
but relationship diversity.
but relationship diversity.
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And by diversity,
I mean big "D" diversity,
I mean big "D" diversity,
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not just racial and gender,
which are very important,
which are very important,
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but also ...
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diversity of age, like young and old;
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rural and urban;
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liberal and conservative;
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in the US, Democrat and Republican.
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Now, one of the great examples
of somebody freeing themselves
of somebody freeing themselves
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from their filter bubbles
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and getting a more diverse life
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is, once again, next to me -- Joan.
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JB: So the question is:
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Who among you has had
relationships lost or harmed
relationships lost or harmed
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due to differences in politics,
religion or whatever?
religion or whatever?
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Raise your hands.
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Yeah.
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This year I have talked to so many people
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that have experienced that kind of loss.
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I've seen tears well up in people's eyes
as they talk about family members
as they talk about family members
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from whom they're estranged.
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Living Room Conversations were designed
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to begin to heal political
and personal differences.
and personal differences.
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They're simple conversations
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where two friends with different
viewpoints each invite two friends
viewpoints each invite two friends
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for structured conversation,
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where everyone's agreed
to some simple ground rules:
to some simple ground rules:
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curiosity, listening,
respect, taking turns --
respect, taking turns --
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everything we learned
in kindergarten, right?
in kindergarten, right?
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Really easy.
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So by the time you're talking about
the topic you've agreed to talk about,
the topic you've agreed to talk about,
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you actually have the sense that,
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"You know, I kind of like this person,"
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and you listen to each other differently.
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That's kind of a human condition;
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we listen differently
to people we care about.
to people we care about.
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And then there's reflection
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and possibly next steps.
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This is a deep listening practice;
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it's never a debate.
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And that's incredibly powerful.
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These conversations
in our own living rooms
in our own living rooms
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with people who have different viewpoints
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are an incredible adventure.
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We rediscover that we can respect
and even love people
and even love people
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that are different from us.
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And it's powerful.
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JG: So, what are you curious about?
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JB: What's the conversation
you yearn to have?
you yearn to have?
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JG: Let's do this together.
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Together.
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JB: Yes.
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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JB and JG: Thank you.
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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Joan Blades - Domestic peace advocateJoan Blades shares a simple six-person conversation guide that helps people with differences get to know and even like each other.
Why you should listen
Joan Blades is a co-founder of LivingRoomConversations.org, an open-source effort to rebuild respectful civil discourse across ideological, cultural and party lines while embracing our core-shared values. She is also a co-founder of MomsRising.org and MoveOn.org. She is a co-author of The Custom-Fit Workplace: Choose When, Where and How to Work and Boost Your Bottom Line, winner of a Nautilus book award in 2011, and The Motherhood Manifesto, which won the Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize in 2007.
Last century, Blades was a software entrepreneur, a co-founder of Berkeley Systems, best known for the Flying Toaster and the game "You Don't Know Jack." A mediator (attorney) by training and inclination, she is a nature lover, artist and true believer in the power of citizens and our need to rebuild respectful civil discourse while embracing our core shared values.
Joan Blades | Speaker | TED.com
John Gable - Technologist, activist
John Gable is the founder and CEO of AllSides.com, which builds better understanding across divides.
Why you should listen
John Gable offers a unique combination of technology and politics. He started in tech 24 years ago by joining the original Microsoft Office team, then became the PM team lead for Netscape Navigator. He also led ZoneAlarm at Check Point Software, and cofounded and sold Kavi Corp. Gable was previously a Republican operative, working for three Senate majority leaders (Howard Baker, Trent Lott, Mitch McConnell), the Republican National Committee and George H.W. Bush.
Now Gable and his multi-partisan AllSides.com team use technology to present news and issues from many angles to allow people to make up their own minds. Their mission: "free people from filter bubbles so they can better understand the world and each other."
John Gable | Speaker | TED.com