Watching and listening to politicians speaking to each other in Australian parliaments one could be forgiven for becoming puzzled and even distressed. Why do seemingly educated adults carry on in the way they do? What are they trying to achieve? Are they aware what it looks like to someone from the outside? The answers to these questions are much more complex than I have the expertise to unravel; however, psychology does give us some avenues of exploration.
Human beings by nature are fearful of uncertainty and seek in a variety of ways to have power and control of their environments (Powell, 2019). To engage in a dialectic with other people, without clear guidelines as to how that will work and with no clear goal in mind, is unlikely to be an attractive proposition. A communication expert may suggest that if clear guidelines are established and rules of conversation made clear, such strategies will begin to solve the problem. This overlooks the principle that even in the most safety conscious, respectful contexts, human beings do not give up their quest for certainty that easily. Even the atheist, who may detest religion as being a delusion, follows the delusion that there is certainty in an anti-religion position. Consequently, healthy dialogue requires the participants to accept that all certainty is an illusion and that faith in the process of good communication with each other is a key requirement for positive outcomes. This is exactly what people do when they commit themselves to intimate long-term relationships.
Now imagine this process has been adopted by all the politicians in Canberra. The creative and informative dialogue that would emerge would lead to more effective solutions to social issues, better policy development and outcomes, less cost to the taxpayer, higher levels of productivity, greater compassion and a more integrated and functional society. So surely, it should not take much convincing that this is the direction to take. Obviously, what I’m saying and with which many people agree, should be the standard we follow in our political institutions. Will it happen? Well, I live in hope that we will move closer to that standard one day; however, the basic human desire to know and be certain prevents many people from taking the risk of faith in uncertainty.
The possibility that I might have a dialogue with someone from the opposition party and come up with a better idea that the other person initiated. It is too embarrassing to even contemplate that a politician might go into the party room and say, “Guess what, I have this great idea from the other side of the chamber!”
One can but dream!
Powell, P. (2019), Story Wisdom: An introduction to Biblical-Narrative Therapy. Sydney: PCI.
psychology and hope 