I closed Reason in the Age of Disinformation with the following words:
Classical Rationality cannot create consensus. That is not within its persuasive power.
How does Classical Rationality persuade? By mapping the unsuspected extent of an ALREADY EXISTING consensus, as indicated by the presence of a mutually accepted Standard of Evidence.
And the rules of Classical Rationality don’t tell you how to find one, do they?
But that’s a job for another post.
This is that other post.
CONSENSUS IS EASY TO FIND
Consensus surrounds you on all sides.
Not majority. Not supermajority.
Consensus.
Unfortunately, as everyone knows, consensus is easily masked by disagreement:
everyone agrees that people get emotionally invested in dumb ideas
nobody agrees exactly which (or whose) ideas are dumb
To reclaim its extraordinary persuasive power, you must first learn how to separate consensus from disagreement.
The mask is not difficult to pierce.
If you adopt the right approach.
MEET THE LAW OF RADICAL CONSENSUS
The Law of Radical Consensus (the LoRC) is a social problem-solving strategy built for the Internet Age.
Who needs it: Online opponents who are too numerous to destroy, too agile to avoid, and too upset to ignore. Anyone else who is tired of circular, unproductive arguments. You.
What it says: The LoRC states “Any disagreement can be reframed as a form of consensus, by jointly acknowledging THAT the dispute exists.”
“Any disagreement can be reframed as a form of consensus, by jointly acknowledging THAT the dispute exists.”
How it works: Apply the LoRC to your disagreement in layers. Keep going until consensus and universality converge in a handful of shared, self-evident observations. This establishes a common view of the problem. Then, AND ONLY THEN, reason forward together (LoRC-looping back as necessary) until something interesting happens.
Why it is needed: Rational argument fails without shared premises. Runaway “too-much-information-too-fast” technology obliterates them. The LoRC restores them. Simply, virally, effectively.
VALUE
The Law of Radical Consensus is a major methodological contribution. Custom-engineered as a bookend to Classical Rationality, it upgrades the persuasive power of argument, restoring it to full functionality even in the chaos of the [dis]Information Age.
“A jointly defined problem is a jointly solvable problem.”
Plug the LoRC into the framework described in the previous post, and watch your rational arguments come roaring back to persuasive life!
Co-opt your opponents. Don’t destroy them.
Coalition-building is far easier than you think.
TOOLBOX
The Law of Radical Consensus offers several practical benefits:
It is fun and easy to learn. With only a little practice, anyone can play this game, or help teach it to others.
It limits collateral damage. Framing a disagreement within consensus decreases social polarization, defines the scope of conflict downward, and refocuses attention on finding shared solutions.
It offers a welcome escape hatch from existential conflict. “Agreeing to disagree” is useless if our respective frames can’t survive contact with each other. “Agreeing THAT we disagree,” on the other hand, shifts the focus from determining who is right to figuring out together what is going on.
It filters unserious behavior. Anyone who is unwilling to frame a disagreement within consensus is looking for a fight, not an argument, and should be reevaluated accordingly.
It uncovers deeper, more fundamental questions. “Why do humans so persistently disagree over which (or whose) ideas are dumb?” is a penetrating new question that gets closer to the heart of things, hinting at the hidden presence of undiscovered human universals.
And that is where true solutions are likely to be found.
VISION
As you play with the Law of Radical Consensus, ponder its implications.
But remember these four in particular:
An honest search for consensus, like truth, requires you to surrender control over wherever the search may lead. Don’t be the internet rando looking for a fight, rather than an argument! You won’t like what happens at the end of that movie. LoRC-skilled opponents can destroy you with ease.
The single most useful application of the Law of Radical Consensus isn’t solving problems, it’s identifying their true shape. This is a game-changing capability you will want to have.
“A jointly defined problem is a jointly solvable problem.”
So many so-called “unsolvable” problems are often just tricks of illusion, long-running fights brought about by the intersection of differently incomplete perspectives! Reframing them with the LoRC causes these kinds of conflicts to melt away.
Practice makes perfect. Sometimes, your best problem-solving efforts will be met with persistent foot-dragging, sabotage, or existential conflict. When that happens, take it as evidence that you are trying to solve the wrong problem. Back up, zoom out, widen your frame, and try again.
Above all, stay positive. “All humans are stupid/crazy/awful” is not a consensus worth pursuing.
Stay positive. Something deeper is afoot.
Something altogether more complex, more elegant, more simple, and more beautiful.
Stay tuned for updates.