Name: How to foster productive and responsible debate | Ishan Bhabha
Uploaded: 2020-11-20T18:46:36.000Z
Duration: 9 min 33 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Camille Martínez

and one of the key principles in your mission statement

is a commitment to treat all employees and customers equally,

including on the basis of gender and religion?

And then a large group books an event at your space,

and when you look at the booking, you realize it's a religious group,

and one of their key principles is that women should never leave the home

and should have no opportunities for professional development outside of it.

Do you host the event and get criticized by some,

In my work, I counsel organizations on how to create rules

to navigate ideological disagreement and controversial speech,

recognize the real harms that can come from certain types of speech,

but at the same time, seek to promote dialogue rather than shut it down.

to speak with someone who agrees with everything you say,

it's more enlightening and oftentimes more satisfying

But disagreement and discord can have real and meaningful costs.

Disagreement, particularly in the form of hateful speech,

can lead to deep and lasting wounds and sometimes result in violence.

And in a world in which polarization and innovation are increasing

the need to create structures for vigorous but not violent disagreement

The US Constitution's First Amendment might seem like a good place to start

You, like I, may have often heard somebody say

that some form of a speech restriction, whether from an employer, a website,

But in fact, the First Amendment usually has little if any relevance at all.

when the government is seeking to suppress the speech of its citizens.

As a result, the First Amendment is by design a blunt instrument.

A narrow category of speech can be banned based on its content.

when what we're talking about is a private entity regulating speech.

because it means private entities have at their disposal

a broad and flexible set of tools that don't prohibit speech,

but do make speakers aware of the consequences of their words.

it's a time for the free and unrestricted exchange of ideas.

But some ideas and the words used to express them

whether it's an intentionally inflammatory event hosted by a student group

or the exploration of a controversial issue in class.

In order to protect both intellectual freedom

some universities have formed teams that bring speaker and listener together,

free from the possibility of any sanction,

mediated exposure to an opposing view can result in acknowledgment,

On a college campus, a group of students supporting the Israelis

for disrupting events, tearing down posters

Recognizing that most of what the students were reporting

did not violate the university's disciplinary code,

the university invited both groups to sit down

where they could hear each other's viewpoints,

the ideological disagreements between the groups

but the rancor between them significantly dissipated.

Now, obviously, this doesn't always happen.

But by separating reactions to speech from the disciplinary system,

institutions of higher education have created a space

for productive disagreement and a broadening of perspectives.

All of us are influenced, and rightly so,

by our family background, our education, our lived experience

most importantly, the beliefs of their members,

but also the laws under which they're governed

or the marketplace in which they compete.

These influences can form a critical part of a corporate identity,

Subtitles ListPlay Video

How to foster productive and responsible debate | Ishan Bhabha

context

situation

debate

controversial