On the next Charlotte Talks, we sit down with UNC-Chapel Hill psychologist Kurt Gray. Gray is the director of UNC’s Center for the Science of Moral Understanding and the author of a new book “Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground.”
It’s easy to assume that people on the right and left have radically different moral foundations with no common ground. In "Outraged," Gray says that we actually have more in common than we think — and that there is science to back that up. Everyone's moral judgments, Gray argues, stem from the same place — a place of wanting to be safe, protected, and to keep ourselves and our loved ones out of harm's way.
Our suspicion of — dislike of — “the other” is rooted in our evolutionary history. We’re hardwired to protect ourselves from perceived threats. So how do we rewire ourselves? We’ll talk about the science behind our increasing political polarization — and how you can broach conversations with others to bridge the divide.
GUEST:
Kurt Gray, professor of psychology and neuroscience at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he directs the Deepest Beliefs Lab and the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding. He is the author of "Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground"
