Sides and Consensus – A Need For Mediation

Today our society has sides staked out in vivid relief and information comes at us much more rapidly than in the past. This causes a retreat to pattern thinking (McLuhan, Kaufman) to be able to order the information.

A by-product of this need to order in response to the overwhelming flow of information is the formation of cultural tribes: staunchly conservative v. progressive. These tribes immediately swing into action on social media, and they seek power through institutional entities, e.g., political parties, legislative bodies, the courts and the administrative branch of government.

The social magnification effect of social media enables weaponization of responses to comments that cause a perceived and claimed injury in such a way that “free speech” provides greatly weakened protection so that even a disapproved comment in a private email that becomes public can cost a person a job, a career, and trigger death threats.

How can mediation help these social disputes resolve constructively?