- We named this post “Kubin Reading Discussion” because it gives a good description of what the reader will encounter while reading this post.
- Citation: Kubin, E., Puryear, C., Schein, C., & Gray, K. (2021). Personal experiences bridge moral and political divides better than facts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(6), e2008389118.
- Thesis: When it comes to political discussions, the most effective way to create mutual respect is through personal experiences rather than facts.
- How does the article distinguish facts and personal experience? The article defined facts as empirical evidence and statistics whereas personal experiences were defined as anecdotes from lived events.
- Upon what underlying assumption is the article based? Support your response by quoting a passage from the article and explaining how the passage points to an underlying assumption. One assumption that the article utilizes is the idea that the results of studies based in western moral disagreements are applicable to other cultures. In fact, this issue was explicitly pointed out when the authors such as Kubin (2020) conceded that “it is an open question of whether these results apply cross-culturally” but then hand waved it away by stating that “it may be useful to improve respect among the citizens of even one politically fractured country” (p. 7). However, even though the authors claim that the applicability of the data can be ignored, what is important to note is that even in America, different cultures exist and the authors simply did not account for that in the data.
- Discuss how this reading could shape the way you conduct or communicate the personal research projects in your groups. This reading indicates that personal experience, more specifically those related to harm, are very effective in inducing mutual respect. Therefore, it would be wise to include anecdotes and first hand stories in addition to statistics. When conducting research for our projects we should also look for experiences as they can convey a sense of truth that seems more objective than data which can result in stronger persuasion on our topic. Overall, this article gives us a new perspective on coming up with ways to bolster our research and create better engagement with our audience.
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