Good Reasonable People by Keith Payne

GOOD REASONABLE PEOPLE is the title of a recent text by Keith Payne, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He looks specifically at “The Psychology Behind America's Dangerous Divide,” something which many of us are all trying desperately to understand. In fact, Payne writes that “other people we thought we knew don't just disagree with us; They see the world in a deeply different way than we do.” In attempting to answer why that it so, he explores ideas around how people think about politics, what influences political worldviews, and how hard it is to communicate about all of this. He writes movingly that “my research suggests that our political tribes are primarily the result not of our inner essences, but of our circumstances” and that his text is about “understanding our own minds, our own circumstances, and our own blind spots as much as understanding those of other people.” Kirkus describes GOOD REASONABLE PEOPLE as “Compelling, eye-opening research that humanizes political discord and encourages understanding and compassion.” It has a hopeful, though somewhat academic, tone and notes comprise slightly less than fifteen percent of this thought-provoking book.