Issue: Them and us

The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies

In this landmark book, Scott Page redefines the way we understand ourselves in relation to one another. The Difference is about how we think in groups–and how our collective wisdom exceeds the sum of its parts. Why can teams of people find better solutions than brilliant individuals working alone? And why are the best group decisions and predictions those that draw upon the very qualities that make each of us unique? The answers lie in diversity–not what we look like outside, but what we look like within, our distinct tools and abilities.

Read More

Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason and the Gap Between Us and Them

Our brains were designed for tribal life, for getting along with a select group of others (Us), and for fighting off everyone else (Them). But modern life has thrust the world’s tribes into a shared space, creating conflicts of interest and clashes of values, along with unprecedented opportunities. As the world shrinks, the moral lines that divide us become more salient and more puzzling. We fight over everything from tax codes to gay marriage to global warming, and we wonder where, if at all, we can find our common ground.

Read More

Life at the End of Us vs Them: Cross Culture Stories

Our present moment can no longer sustain a stable “us” defined against an alien “them.” So say René Girard and Ivan Illich, radical critics of both Christianity and culture. If they are right, this makes our time an endtime. The end of us against them can deteriorate into the chaos of each against each, or it can open outward into freely chosen communion. It is an expectant—and apocalyptic—time. How does one live in this strange, endtime world? As a wanderer in the odd, cross-culture country Girard and Illich have mapped, the author finds himself in a surprising new place in relation to those who are his other: women, queer folk, refugees, Muslims, atheists, and Indigenous people. In this collection of essays, he blinks, looks around, and makes some field notes.

Read More

Jesus the Forgiving Victim

Jesus the Forgiving Victim Listening for the Unheard Voice is comprised of four books of essays.
Book One – Starting human, staying human
Book Two – God, not one of the gods
Book Three – The difference Jesus makes
Book Four – Unexpected Insiders

Read More
Verified by MonsterInsights