A year after 9/11, we surely still have much to learn about the catastrophe and about our own and our nation’s reaction. One of the foremost practioners of opinion research leads us in a reflection on 9/11 that emphasizes learning from the multiplicity of viewpoints. When smart people reach foolish conclusions, it is often because they are blind to alternative perspectives. Some argue that “viewpoint learning” does not meet formal epistemological criteria of knowledge (objectivity, experimental verification), but the issue is the culture’s rigidity with respect to multiple ways of knowing. Daniel Yankelovich asks the audience to join him in testing and practicing dialogue as a method of understanding that is distinct from other forms of discourse.
Participant
Daniel Yankelovich
Presented by the Rose and Erwin S. Wolfson Center for National Affairs and the World Policy Institute.