Competitive Sensemaking: An Upgrade to Common Sense on Disagreement

Public debate is how societies do their thinking. To keep our shared belief systems functional we must know how to disagree constructively, and exactly what goes wrong when we don’t do so. Why and how do communication failures make public discourse incoherent, dysfunctional, and polarized?

This book goes through it all, integrating the details of communication with grand social dynamics:

Why don’t we agree on anything anymore?
Why do we draw such different conclusions from the same information?
Why are those who disagree with us so obviously wrong, and yet unable to see it themselves?
What is the interplay between beliefs and social organization, and why do we even feel and think differently about things in the first place?

Arguing that contemporary belief systems are cultivated in ideological subcultures reminiscent of academic disciplines, but lacking the norms and strictures that make academic debates functional, Competitive Sensemaking lays out how our understanding of disagreement is out of date and urgently needs an upgrade for the online world. The upgrade it proposes joins philosophical, psychological, historical, economic, and sociological elements into a popular-level framework meant to help the reader navigate seemingly chaotic public disagreement with ease and literacy.

Written by John Nerst, technologist and trend analyst with a Master’s in Sociotechnical Systems Engineering, this book makes complex, dense ideas clear and accessible.

Praise for Competitive Sensemaking:

Few writers can wade into the culture war and emerge with their nuance intact. John does it every time. He’s like a Wittgenstein (later years) for the chronically online-a philosopher who meets our era’s confusions on their own terms and patiently dissolves them. Charitable to all sides without losing sight of what’s true, he writes from just the right altitude: close enough to matter, but far enough to see clearly. If ＂the discourse＂ has ever left you feeling lost in the jungle, John’s writing is a refreshing view from higher ground.
- Kevin Simler, author of The Elephant in the Brain

Competitive Sensemaking is a witty and curious run-through of how and why we disagree, written with the intellectual generosity and open-mindedness I’ve come to expect from John Nerst, one of the most interesting thinkers in the blogosphere. I recommend it to anyone who wants to get outside their own tribal mindset and understand those who hold a viewpoint other than their own.
- Tom Chivers, co-host, The Science Fictions Podcast

A good start to the project of deconfusing yourself.
- Scott Alexander, Astral Codex Ten

Competitive Sensemaking teaches you to disagree honestly, honorably, and perhaps more successfully-through understanding that you don’t understand your opponents’ worldview, or even your own. Nerst’s writing is playful and quirky, so clear and delightful that you might not notice yourself gaining deep insights into language, psychology, and social dysfunction. Secretly, his topic is not just productive disagreement, but: what do we even mean by ＂reality＂!
- David Chapman, author of Meaningness