If you missed the first two columns, “What can we agree on?” — the brainchild of reader Barb Neal — the idea is to highlight areas where a majority of Americans (at least of those participating) can find agreement. We see and hear so much about how divided we are that it’s easy to forget that as a culture, we still have much in common.

One experiment at Stanford University suggests that even when we don’t think we can agree, dialogue can change that.

“America in One Room” brought together more than 500 registered voters of disparate political opinions in Dallas, Texas this September. Moderated by students from Stanford’s Center for Deliberative Democracy the group discussed and debated five contentious topics: the economy, immigration, health care, the environment and foreign policy.

Deliberation is defined as a long and careful consideration or discussion. Deliberative democracy is a political theory which holds that political decisions (including voters’ opinions) should be the product of fair and reasonable discussion and debate.

The Stanford group uses a “deliberative polling” method, bringing together a representative sample of voters, balanced briefing materials and trained, neutral moderators to discuss major issues. The Dallas group was among the largest of more than 100 such experiments in two dozen countries.

What the America in One Room experiments indicate is that the divide between people with different, and even entrenched, viewpoints is not unbridgeable. By the end of the Dallas session, according to a Stanford statement, “many” had changed their opinions (and not all in one direction). That resulted in more participants — whose ages and backgrounds also varied — ranking toward the middle of the political spectrum than when they had started.

Dialogue and more information on issues, it seems, do more than help us understand why others feel the way they do. They can also change how we see things and open our minds to new perspectives, or perspectives not considered before.

“We’re not as polarized as maybe some in the media or political pundits will make it seem like it is,” said one participant.

Another student-participant said after the Dallas event that she plans to attend more political events to familiarize herself with other people’s points of view. Some participants said they better recognize that someone who votes differently is not “the enemy.”

Dialogue, when approached with civility and respectful listening by all participants, can and apparently does build bridges and reduce polarization. In other words, not agreeing - when we embrace it - can be quite useful.

For more information see CDD.Stanford.edu.

“Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos.” — George W. Bush, 2001 Inaugural Address

“The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself—always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested in adversity.” — Jimmy Carter

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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.