Adversarial Culture: Open_Notes 1

argument culture "language of war" - confrontation of debate vs. dialogue (so say I vs. so say you) - polarization (black or white) - discussions, law, media, classroom, etc. - media provocation (provocative vs. thought provoking) - media mediated culture - conflict entertainment - war metaphors to describe, understand our interactions with each other - ie. who won, who lost; shooting down my ideas; I'll take a shot at that - opposition, fighting, to approach or accomplish ie., litigation - fundamental warlike stance vs. problems, each other - we demonize people we disagree with - we stop listening, learning from each other.

belief that opposition leads to truth - persuasion by humiliation - "talk show" public discourse - investigative journalism "scandal inflation" - dulling effect, people turn off, tune out - consumership of news declines - important news is ignored - "scandal industry" distractions - media shorthand - reduce to the simplest terms - time constraints - once we view things as two camps it narrows our possible view of solutions - conceptualizations of a fight between two sides - the public expects instant turn-around, responses - ethic of aggression - no good, rapid response = up to no good, deception.

your wrong because I'm right - a vicious circle - zero-sum game - gridlock, ie. politics, law - out of control - over applied - courtroom adversarial tactics permeating, being mirrored in society - adversary culture - metaphor of a legal case is a lens through which we view, approach our relationships with each other - people are not asking what is right but what is defensible in court (deals vs. equity) - undercutting credibility - not questioning, looking for truth.

Adversarial Culture: Open_Notes 1