Premier dispute resolution web site Mediate.com has demonstrated its support for raising awareness of gender bias in ADR. Showing leadership and its commitment to social justice issues, Mediate.com has created a new section on gender, as well as a page on gender bias links. This is just one more reason among many to visit Mediate.com, the top web site for news, information, and resources on ADR and negotiation.
Other features that make this site outstanding include:
Optical illusions make ideal teaching tools in negotiation and conflict resolution training. They serve as humbling reminders of the unreliability of our senses and the conclusions we draw from the data we perceive. One of my favorite illusions is “Shepard’s Turning the Tables“, which you can view at the web site of Professor Michael Bach of Universitäts-Augenklinik, Freiburg, Germany.
This illusion depicts two tables standing near each other. The tables appear to be of different sizes, one apparently longer and narrower than the other. When you click “Run”, one table top lifts and floats, coming to rest on top of the second table, allowing you to see that the surface areas of the tables are in fact identical and match perfectly. You can reset and replay the illusion again and again.
Amazingly, despite knowing the truth about the dimensions of the table tops, your eyes still see differing sizes and shapes. I invite you to see for yourself. (I must caution those of you whose time is limited: visiting Professor Bach’s site, a collection of 86 jaw-dropping illusions, for only a minute is simply not possible. You’ll find yourself irresistibly drawn from one illusion to the next.)
For those of you interested in influences on perception and cognition, I recommend one article and two videos, all thought-provoking (for those of you viewing at work, please note that a certain four-letter word appears in both videos):
Via The Boston Globe, “Easy = True: How ‘cognitive fluency’ shapes what we believe, how we invest, and who will become a supermodel“. Globe staff writer Drake Bennett describes cognitive fluency as “[o]ne of the hottest topics in psychology today”. He reports that cognitive fluency is “simply a measure of how easy it is to think about something, and it turns out that people prefer things that are easy to think about to those that are hard.” Studies suggest that factors such as rhyming words or font style and legibility of text influence the way we process information, enhancing or hampering our ability to perform tasks or make judgments.
The outstanding blog Sociological Images posted “Chart Wars: The Political Power of Data Visualization,” a presentation by political consultant Alex Lundry, which offers a salutary lesson in “graphical literacy” and warns against the ways in which depictions of visual data can mislead or distort. View it here:
From Colin Rule’s blog, “The template for every news story you’ve ever seen“. Watch in awe to see how, in Colin’s words, “a couple edits and on-the-street interviews can transform fuzzy thinking into something that seems insightful”:
In the second episode of ADR podcast series Cafe Mediate, conflict resolution and ADR marketing expert Tammy Lenski, London-based international business mediator Amanda Bucklow, New York City detective and conflict resolution professional Jeff Thompson, and I sit down together to consider the question, “What makes a great mediator?”.
This lively transatlantic conversation focused on the qualities that distinguish the effective practitioner. Listening to these seasoned colleagues left me inspired and thinking how fortunate I am to be able to count these talented conflict resolvers as my friends – thanks to Tammy, Amanda, and Jeff for such a thought-provoking discussion.
Each month ADR podcast series Cafe Mediate (motto: “where conversation, not caffeine, is the stimulant”), will feature conversation among ADR practitioners about topics relevant to the business, practice, and future of our field.
Future editions will explore issues such as certification and professionalization; debunking ADR myths; and training and education of mediators. I hope you’ll tune in. In the meantime, click here to learn more about “what makes a great mediator“.
Cafe Mediate is the latest brainchild of mediation marketing and conflict resolution expert Tammy Lenski, who publishes two popular blogs, Conflict Zen and Making Mediation Your Day Job. Cafe Mediate (motto: “where conversation not caffeine is the stimulant”), a new monthly podcast series, will feature lively discussion among ADR professionals about topics relevant to practitioners, from the pragmatic to the provocative.
The inaugural session just aired. This transatlantic conversation brought together me, Tammy, and international business mediator Amanda Bucklow, who is based in England and blogs at the top-drawer Mediation Times, to talk about an issue of great interest to conflict resolution professionals: value billing.
Thanks to Tammy for inviting me to join in and to the extraordinary Amanda as well – I enjoyed the conversation and am already looking forward to the next one.
If you’re fascinated by the role that science plays in exploring and illuminating human behavior and decision making, the internet offers outstanding choices for the discerning reader and dedicated negotiator. I highly recommend the following sites:
Brains on Purpose. Lawyer and mediator Stephanie West Allen discusses the insights neuroscience offers into the resolution of conflict.
Cognitive Daily. This engaging and informative blog reports on the latest research on cognition, and also invites readers to participate in fun weekly studies.
The Frontal Cortex. Popular science writer Jonah Lehrer, author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist and How We Decide, discusses insights and the latest research from the field of neuroscience.
Neuroethics and Law Blog. This scholarly blog serves as an interdisciplinary forum for discussion of legal and ethical issues involving the mind and brain. I look forward to its weekly ethics and brain sciences news round-up (like this one).
Neurocritic. This blog brings a critical eye to its discussions of neuroscience, devoted to “[d]econstructing the most sensationalistic recent findings in Human Brain Imaging, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Psychopharmacology”.
The Situationist. This blog, which has attracted well-deserved accolades, is an outstanding source for news and discussion on human behavior and the effect of situational forces on legal, political, and social institutions. An essential addition to your blog library.
Predictably Irrational. Dan Ariely continues the conversation he began in his superb book which counters our assumptions about how we reach decisions.
Sociological Images. A site that examines the meaning of images and the messages they convey about gender, race, and identity. It provokes reflection on what these images say about society and culture, while shocking us out of our complacency.
Neuroanthropology. Another blog that offers stimulating discussion across disciplines – anthropology, social science, philosophy, and neuroscience – as it considers the “cultural brain”.
Neuromarketing. The tagline of this blog, written by Roger Dooley, says it all – “where brain science and marketing meet”.
Neurotopia. A quirky and entertaining look at neuroscience. I just can’t resist a blog authored by someone known only as “Evil Monkey”.
Do you have favorite blogs about neuroscience, social psychology, or behavioral economics? If so, please feel free to tell me about them in the comments.
Year after year, Mediate.com remains at the top of its game, the very best resource bar none for news, information, and high-level thinking about conflict resolution and negotiation.
Features that make this site outstanding include:
A vast library of articles organized by Section or searchable by Topic, Term or Author
An archive of over 100 video interviews featuring [...]
Mediator, lawyer, writer, and all-around Renaissance woman Stephanie West Allen needs your help as she prepares to write an article on neuroscience transparency. What is neuroscience transparency? It’s what conflict resolution professionals tell their clients about neuroscience. You can contribute by taking her survey at her site, Brains on Purpose, a blog which explores the [...]
Conflict resolution work can be demanding, asking much of those who practice it. Among other qualities, practitioners must ideally bring to the table an openness and curiosity to learn more about how others see and experience the world; respect and compassion; the humility to acknowledge an error and express regret for an unintended outcome; and [...]
Great minds – and wits – have considered the difficulties of moral choice. Influential activist and thinker Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” (Bon vivant Mae West, who took [...]
Recently Mediator Blah…Blah…, one of my favorite ADR blogs, sadly ceased publication. I will miss friend and fellow blogger Geoff Sharp’s intelligent, emotionally honest writing and wit.
Fortunately there are other blogs, written by talented, insightful practitioners, that can fill the void that Geoff’s absence has created. I have compiled a list of currently active blogs [...]
Premier dispute resolution web site Mediate.com has demonstrated its support for raising awareness of gender bias in ADR. Showing leadership and its commitment to social justice issues, Mediate.com has created a new section on gender, as well as a page on gender bias links. This is just one more reason among many to visit Mediate.com, the top web site for news, information, and resources on ADR and negotiation.
