The Ted Talk that I watched was called “The Revolutionary Power of Diverse Thought.” It is by the novelist Elif Shafak from Turkey. She starts by describing her answer to the question “can we taste words?” She explains that she initially avoided the question because it was a complicated answer. She knew what she wanted to say but did not know how it would be perceived by others because it was not an uncomplicated answer. People tend to do this when they have mixed emotions or complex situations. It is much easier when they have the ability to choose between one option or another. To resolve the complexity of thought, people force opinions, identities, solutions, etc. into “binary oppositions,” where one cannot choose more than a singular option. This is especially true in politics. These binary oppositions deny the human right to be complex, to have mixed emotions and to not be polarized which is something that has become extremely normalized in Western society especially.

Mainstream political analysists neglect emotion and focus solely on data, as Shafak says, and this perpetuates the attitudes of polarization. Initially, I was confused by this claim. I think of all the times that my family has gotten into political debates that have exploded with emotion. I think of the leadership classes I have taken, including this one, where we analyze political arguments and draw conclusion on how they use emotion to outweigh logic. However, as Shafak continued and I thought more about what she was saying, I realized that despite the fact politics revolves around emotion, there is a rejection of admitting this. Politicians and analysists mask the emotion behind data. Shafak says that underestimating emotion and ignoring the fact that feelings have a major impact is a mistake. People would naturally become less polarized if they acknowledged the emotions that drive their argument.

I think that there is definitely a fear of emotion. Within the last few years, there has been more discussion of why emotion is not evil. For example, feminist theories related to emotion and the movement for men to embrace emotion (rejection of toxic masculinity). I think Shafak would agree that these are steps in the right direction, but removal of emotion impacts much more than we give it credit for. Shafak’s ideas are centered around indecision, for lack of a better word, but this is not a bad thing. It may be uncomfortable, but I think she was right in saying this mindset is extremely beneficial.

https://www.ted.com/talks/elif_shafak_the_revolutionary_power_of_diverse_thought/up-next?language=en