The Bridge Street Press

Do you avoid people who are strongly against immigration? Or strongly for trans rights? Against abortion? For drug legalisation? We might like to think that we’re tolerant, but many of us struggle to engage with people whose opinions differ strongly from our own – even if they might have something useful to contribute to the debate. That means we’re falling victim to what behavioural scientist Professor Paul Dolan defines as Beliefism – discrimination against those with different beliefs to us. Drawing on the evidence from across the social sciences, Dolan shows how easy it is for us to divide ourselves into opposing camps – and how harmful that can be. Using the central metaphor of the duck-rabbit illusion – where the same image can be viewed as one animal or the other – the book shows that looking at an issue from only one perspective can lead to bad decisions and unnecessary conflict.