Jim Gaffigan: Disagree with Someone? Calling Them a Moron Won't Help | Big Think

Описание: Jim Gaffigan: Disagree with Someone? Calling Them a Moron Won't Help
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As the 2016 Presidential election draws nearer, the divide seems to be widening between Team "I’m With Her" and Camp "Make America Great Again", with plenty of desperate support still behind the "Giant Meteor 2016 (Just End it Already)" faction.

One side calls the other ‘crooked elitists’, and the other fires back with ‘uneducated racists’, only this exchange rarely happens in the same room. Democrats and Republicans vent their frustrations in separate homes, separates states, and symbolically in separate worlds. Comedian (and all-round great guy) Jim Gaffigan takes issue with this. He lives in New York City, where the berating and shaming falls most heavily on Trump supporters, but he grew up in a small town in Indiana, a red state, so he has a valuable dual perspective.

He laments the absence of dialogue between Trump and Clinton supporters and – from his viewpoint within a blue state – there’s a blanket dismissiveness of the ideas from the so-called fly-over states. Many democrats, when they hear ‘Trump’ or ‘red state’ immediately think ‘moron’, and shut down any potential dialogue.

Dismissing people, or insulting their beliefs, isn’t how you convince someone that your argument is the valid one, says Gaffigan. Science journalist Michael Shermer seconds this motion, and has spoken to Big Think about how to talk to people whose beliefs oppose yours. Specifically when your position is based in science, reason, and critical thinking, and the other person’s is based in emotion.

"If you attack somebody pretty aggressively and you don’t treat them with respect, the wall goes up. Cognitive dissonance kicks in," Shermer says. "[They think] ‘These are my beliefs and you’re telling me I’m wrong? Okay, whoa. I’m going to double down.’" He argues that you’re much better off killing prejudice with kindness; reciprocity is the way to go. "I will give you respect if you hear me out, and you give me respect if I hear you out." From here, says Shermer, you can at least plant a seed of doubt.

And on that note, check out Jim Gaffigan’s book, aptly titled Dad is Fat.
Tune in to The Jim Gaffigan Show.
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JIM GAFFIGAN:

Jim Gaffigan is a Grammy nominated comedian, New York Times best-selling author, top touring performer, and multi-platinum-selling father of five. He recently wrapped the first season of his semi-fictitious television show, The Jim Gaffigan Show, which TV Land picked up for a second season and premieres two episodes on Sunday, June 19th at 10/9c. The series, lauded by The Los Angeles Times as “Fun and Funny,” and People Magazine as “One of Summer TV’s bright spots,” was developed by Peter Tolan along with Gaffigan and his wife, Jeannie, who both also serve as executive producers and showrunners. The single-camera comedy co-stars Ashley Williams, Michael Ian Black, and Adam Goldberg and revolves around one man’s struggle to balance fatherhood, stand-up comedy and an insatiable appetite. With multiple projects in motion, Gaffigan is currently preparing to travel the country in a tour bus with his family on behalf of his Fully Dressed arena and theater tour which begins July 7th.

Gaffigan’s fourth special ("Beyond the Pale," 2006; "King Baby," 2009; "Mr. Universe," 2012),"Obsessed" premiered on Comedy Central in 2014 and the DVD/CD was released soon after by Comedy Central Records. "Obsessed" premiered at #1 on iTunes which marked the fifth time Gaffigan reached the Top 25 Comedy category on iTunes. The album also earned a nomination for "Best Comedy Album of the Year" at the 2015 Grammy Awards.

In 2013, Jim’s first book, Dad Is Fat, was released by Crown Publishing and debuted at #5 on The New York Times Bestseller’s List and remained on the list for 17 weeks. His second book, Food: A Love Story, was released in the fall of 2014 and debuted at #3 on The New York Times Bestseller’s List.
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TRANSCRIPT:

Jim Gaffigan: If you have a problem with the patriarchy or with white people you‘d look at me and you’d go this guy invented white people because he’s so white. He probably invented slavery. He probably was resistant to women voting. So the weird thing is I do feel like sometimes even people talking about Trump or some outlandish conservative opinion will kind of present things to me that are like well, you know, some people don’t...

Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/jim-gaffi...