Human Nature - Israelis and Palestinians
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- Опубликовано: 12 авг 2014
- Watch this fantastic short clip by the great (Israeli) Daniel Kahneman to see what insights Psychology can offer into the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Looking at the issue from the point of view of Israel, Professor Kahneman says that peace is difficult - very difficult. Here is why:
- Power imbalance [1:07]: A power imbalance makes the powerful look down on the powerless (indeed, according to N. Epley (Epley 2014, Ch. 3), it often leads us to dehumanize our powerless adversaries), they are less empathetic, prone to contempt and they have a sense of entitlement. Israel is by far the more powerful party.
- Habituation [2:53]: We very easily ‘habituate’ to a certain state of affairs - thinking that it is going to last forever. Israel enjoys a number of privileges it would have to give up in order to attain peace. It is very hard to do that.
- Loss aversion [4:45]: Losses (esp certain and immediate losses) loom larger than benefits (esp uncertain, future benefits). If Israel struck a deal now, it would have to give up a number of things (not least territory it has occupied, not to mention the settlements) and hope that this might translate into peace and good-neighbourliness in the future.
- The right to self-defence [6:20]: Whenever there is a conflict, we perceive ourselves as the injured party, simply responding to aggression, insults etc. It is never the other way round. Not once has any of the two sides admitted that they were the initiators.
- Disproportional retaliation: Another great Jew (E. Aronson) quotes research showing that it is all but impossible to restrain our tendency for excessive retaliation (Aronson & Tavris 2007 - p. 192). Time and again, our brain magnifies the other party’s offences and our own deeds seem insignificant by comparison.
- Attribution [7:38]: We act in the way we act because of the circumstances; the other side however acts the way they do because of their nature - because they cannot help it (e.g. ‘Because they are anti-semites’ etc. - Palestinians also perceive Israelis as racists). This is such a common phenomenon, there is a special term for it: the Fundamental Attribution Error.
- Mistrust [8:05]: Psychologically, we don’t mind so much if we miss an opportunity (e.g. to achieve peace). We do mind an awful lot however if we choose to trust the other party, we take a step towards reconciliation (e.g. by dismantling a settlement or releasing prisoners) and then we feel that this is turned against us (instead of appreciated).
So - what is to be done? Professor Kahneman says there is little hope in trusting that there will be a gradual change of attitudes among the Israeli people (or the Palestinians come to that). What is needed here is leadership - someone who will help steer the nation in the direction of peace. Will the Israelis manage this? The best answer perhaps is a Hebrew word from the Old Testament: ‘timshel’ ( = thou mayest).
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. 
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One of the most brillant minds on the planet provides a concise summary of the psychological dissonance for peace.
It's true for almost every conflict on earth, historical baggage plays a big role in fostering this kind of psychological position.
Words of wisdom and hope from one of the most respected men on the planet. Thanks I needed this.
Smart as hell but we need to call out govs and leaders that dont see peace as a worthy “gain”
Absolutely fantastic
It seems difficult to understand how the millions of displaced persons that came to Israel after WW2 could immediately accept the creation of millions of displaced persons. Could it be that they denied basic human rights to others _because_ of their own experience, rather than _despite_ of it?
Brilliant
Kahneman, as a respected and well-known intellectual, has a huge responsibility to speak out not as an academic, but as an elite and privileged person who (should) value human rights. It takes only a small effort, which Kahneman is indeed capable of, to understand that the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict" is not so much a conflict as it is 70 years of consistent and brutal human rights violations and war crimes against a persecuted native population of essentially defenseless Palestinian civilians. As a privileged respected Israeli with a huge voice, Khanaman is failing in his responsibility to use his power to help the Palestinian cause, which is a human and a just cause.
It would be interesting to hear what israelis think of this...
He *is* an Israeli, you tool.
Other Israelis, you tool
Didn't even touch the corner spectrum of the idea of peace among the two, leadership is present but whats lacking is the consistency and trust between the leader and its people.
and you can never provide peace without at least offering demands and concessions from the two parties.
Perhaps Daniel is an expert in psychologist but when it comes to peace solution offering between two countries he's off-note.
Well, you are right of course - there are many, many dimensions to this problem and I think Kahneman is careful to avoid stepping outside his area of expertise. What he says though is interesting - not least because it is generalizable to similar situations. Kahneman helps explain the psychological background to the mutual hostility and the psychological difficulties that make it difficult for progress to be made in peace talks in general and these peace talks in particular. He avoids specifics of course, but he does say that for any initiative to have any chance of
succeeding, it is Israel that has to make the first step.
Thank you for your wise construction of the wording .... totally agree
Re loss aversion: Israel would have had to make concessions right after any of the wars it won... Probably the worst time psychologically?
Wise words. Why is it listed as Category: Comedy?
No idea... Perhaps because most of the videos in my channel are under 'Comedy for ELT'. I'll check to see whether I have added a 'comedy' tag though, just in case....
On second thoughts, I'm not sure it was worth mentioning. I just wondered why it only has one comment and 6 thumbs up. It's a superb summary of the psychology of the situation and your summary is very good
Thank you for your kind words Martin. Gld you liked the clip.
Don't waste your time Sir
Palestinians leadership its Business