The Discussion Book

Chapter 34

Methodological Belief

Trying to understand the logic and rationale informing a viewpoint very different from our own is one of the hardest intellectual and emotional leaps to make in discussion. We find that people are more open to it if it is done in short five-minute bursts.

Purposes

• To practice being disciplined believers to supplement our considerably greater experience as disciplined doubters
• To experience the “virtues and strengths” (Elbow, 1986, p. 257) of asserting belief in an unfamiliar viewpoint
• To open participants to the possibility of changing fixed perceptions
• To explore how shared beliefs can build community

How It Works

• The exercise begins with observing methodological belief in action. We usually use an ...