A number of people talk about their curiosity, their feelings of open-heartedness, and their willingness to show parts of themselves that they may ordinarily have less access to. This was an opportunity to be a little bit more of who you are and a little less guarded. This is, in my mind, how human community is formed and deepens. We do not change the world by staying on two sides of the fence and yelling at each other. We can continue to struggle, even though we may never have it right.
Some people ask how a meeting so heavily structured can allow genuine interchange.
In an atmosphere of respectful curiosity, participants are liberated to enter into genuine relationship with people who previously were experienced as stereotypes of projections rather than individual human beings. In our culture of negative political discourse, it is vital that citizens with differing views find ways to encounter each other with care and respect. We hope that our work on dialogue offers ideas and tools to achieve this goal. The authors have worked as a team on the Public Conversations Project since 1989. Written materials are available upon request.