By Martha Nieman
I have always hated going door-to-door campaigning before an election. It’s hard enough to strike up a conversation with a total stranger. But to then question that stranger about who they are going to vote for and try to talk them into voting for the candidates that I favor takes more courage than I can muster! I expect those behind the door don’t like it anymore than I do, evidenced by the few who answer the doorbell. The whole experience makes me question the effectiveness of the effort.
Part of the problem is the ongoing belief that we will make rational choices if we have enough information. There is no scarcity of information, especially since the creation of the Internet, and subsequently social media. As a result, it is possible to find “facts” to prove any belief. Margaret Wheatley in her book Who Do We Choose to Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity has this to say about this conundrum:
“. . . just 1 percent confirming information was sufficient to feed the beliefs, to fuel the fears . . . Minds don’t change with facts. Facts are changed by mind. If our brain perceives threat, we lose awareness, reason, curiosity, thinking, the very capacities needed to change minds. But minds do change with the right processes . . . A recipe for creating mind change has three basic ingredients: a relationship of mutual respect; genuine curiosity about one another; and a process that requires good listening.”
Such a process is the practice of “Deep Canvassing,” which involves first asking people questions that help establish a relationship, and then asking them to share why they believe as they do.
This has been shown to be highly effective, as described by David McRaney in his book How Minds Change, which contains this quote:
“There is no superior argument, no piece of information that we can offer, that is going to change their mind. The only way they are going to change their mind is by changing their own mind – by talking themselves through their own thinking, by processing things they have never thought about before, things from their own life that are going to help them see things differently.”
While you can do deep canvassing at the door, the other way to do deep canvassing is through one-on-ones, which JONAH has always done! The intent of one-on-ones is to establish relationships and seek areas of mutual self-interest, without pushing an agenda. This has been used to grow JONAH’s work in addressing social justice issues. The current divisions in our local, statewide, and national community hamper these efforts. One-on-ones, and deep canvassing, can be effective in healing the divide if we widen their use to include those holding diverse perspectives from our own. This is something I can get behind and devote energy to. Consider if you might be able to do so as well – then make sure to follow up with our Organizer!