Events

Braver Angels East TN Alliance monthly meetings are now in person! Come to the meeting room at Bearden Library and bring a friend! 

We’ll also have a zoom for those who can’t attend in person--now with the "Owl" camera that gives you a 360 degree view of the participants. Going forward, we will also have members from all of the Tennessee alliances join us, since they don't always have regular meetings to participate in.

This month we'll be discussing "Collective Illusions." Is polarization a collective illusion? Do we assume that other members of our tribe all support the things we think are absurd but go along with to avoid conflict? Do we assume that members of the other tribe all believe the same things as their most viral lunatic fringe? How do our assumptions about what others believe contribute to the ongoing environment of polarization and are there techniques we can use to get people to open up about what they truly believe?

Todd Rose wrote a book on this subject, and there are several interviews with him available on YouTube where he discusses it.

https://www.toddrose.com/collectiveillusions/

Monica Guzman gives the book a big endorsement in this Instagram post.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFx9t8XTNJG/

Here’s a short 5-minute video on cultural norms and collective illusions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd8VHbIYqRs

This is a 12-minute video on collective illusions that summarizes it pretty well, and tells the story of Vaclav Havel, a writer whose stories about the collective illusion of communism led to one of the only peaceful movements that has overthrown an authoritarian government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URdXC6UtfVg

Another 12-minute interview with Mike Rowe that talks about collective illusions around meaningful work, education, and success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAI2iFm_Knk

This article outlines over 100 policy proposals that have broad support among both Reds and Blues. How do our collective illusions cause us to see these issues as more divided than they really are?

https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/50343-national-policy-proposals-with-bipartisan-support 

If that's too many, here's a nice short article that focuses on 7 of them.

https://buildersmovement.org/2025/06/11/policies-democrats-republicans-agree-on/ 

This is the podcast episode that introduced me to Todd Rose. It’s a 90-minute interview but it’s really fascinating because he goes into detail about this survey technique he uses to ensure that people reveal their true beliefs by giving them “plausible deniability” about their answers.

https://youtu.be/Tj6ptwWOgkU

Let’s use these videos as a jumping off point to talk about how we can have better conversations, and what we can learn from the example they set!

AGENDA

1. Review of the Braver Angels Way and Introductions.

2. Actions since last meeting

3. Discussion of Collective Illusions using the examples from the videos

4. Preview "My Father's Name" movie that has been made available for screenings

5. Explore upcoming national zoom events and training classes we can attend

6. Open discussion for any questions, comments, or suggestions on ETA activities

June 19 Meeting

Braver Angels East TN Alliance monthly meetings are now in person! Come to the small classroom at the Farragut Community Center (upstairs) and bring a friend! 

We’ll also have a zoom for those who can’t attend in person--now with the "Owl" camera that gives you a 360 degree view of the participants.

This month we will start by playing a Braver Angels game that helps us think about issues from other points of view.

Then, we’ll have a discussion of a discussion of the Robert George and Cornel West interview “Finding Truth in Disagreement” that you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woacPc0vm2A

Another great example of the Braver Angels Way in action is this discussion between Francis Collins and Wilk Wilkinson on the ways that the COVID led to polarized responses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBmpxornZvY

These two are about 10 minutes long and give you a good idea of how they work together. For a longer conversation on “Fruitful Disagreement in an Age of Division” you can check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyBHBi-L3yo

Let’s use these videos as a jumping off point to talk about how we can have better conversations, and what we can learn from the example they set!

AGENDA

1. Review of the Braver Angels Way and Introductions.

2. Play the “Left Right” game from the Braver Angels website

3. Actions since last meeting—has anyone connected with interested groups?

4. Discussion of how we can disagree better using the examples from the videos

5. Consider getting a booth at the TN Valley Fair

6. Explore upcoming national zoom events and training classes we can attend

7. Open discussion for any questions, comments, or suggestions on ETA activities