The Human Values Forum is dedicated to reinvigorating the discussion of human values in contemporary life.
The Human Values Forum is a discussion site for exploring ways in which individuals, parents, teachers, couples and communities can create shared values to live by. In this forum, we invite you to post your concerns about issues related to moral values in contemporary society. Through our discussion, we hope to seek ways to bridge differences between people about contentious social and moral issues.
Here is the idea: Create some sort of forum in which people can post concerns and solutions to problems. However, they have to do so in a structured way that forces them to articulate their values; their reasons for holding them; their understanding of the values of those who they are against, and to propose a way to bridge the gap.
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For example, we could have different categories of forums, like this:
- Personal Values
- Parenting
- Teaching and Learning
- Social Issues
There could be subcategories in each, as suggested by posters.
Posts could be structured like:
- My complaint: (I am worried about….)
- This shows that I value:
- What I’m doing (or not doing) to advance this value:
- I think that people who don’t feel the way I do think:
- My solution to this problem is:
| My complaint: I am worried about | How parents let their kids run wild. |
| My complaint shows that I value: | Obedience in kids. Kids shouldn’t be allowed to disobey their parents. |
| What I’m doing (or not doing) to advance this value: | I make sure my kids know the rules, and I spank them when they don’t obey. |
| People who don’t feel the way I do think… | their kids should be able to do anything they want |
| My solution to this problem is: | To kill the liberals |
People would be able to post reactions and comments. There would be rules about what is appropriate or not – that is, everyone has to be constructive; try to see the other’s point of view; this could be a kind of forum to teach conflict management and negotiation.
For example, to have self-regulating constructive dialogue, people could RATE the extent to which a response attempts to see the other’s point of view; the extent to which it offers a constructive solution, etc. People would be mindful of the ratings when posting, and in so doing, would learn the skills for how to engage in constructive problem-solving conversations.