The proverbial visitor from Mars—especially one who was here for a return visit—might be pardoned for wondering how societies across the globe have become so polarized in their beliefs. My Facebook feed has become a wasteland of worry on one side or the other, and what’s really difficult is that the sides aren’t even looking at, or celebrating, or obsessing about the same things. They’re occupying two different, parallel universes, and they don’t even overlap much, let alone talk to one another.

Of course, that’s worrisome on a number of levels, but the particular issue I found myself worrying about recently was whether or not you could actually argue productively with the other side. I mean, would the facts of the matter make any difference? Given that these parallel worldviews seem to be held with passionate........

© Psychology Today