On youtube, there seem to be few videos that explain dialectical materialism in a way children and liberals can understand. How do you explain dialectical thinking to someone in a very popular way?
Keep it very simple at first. It’s common (but maybe not natural ;) ) to think linearly. If x changes then y changes proportionally. (y=mx+b)
But that’s a simplified version of reality.
Maybe using ideas like: If I go for a walk in the forest, the forest affects me. It makes me feel calm, I can see the beauty, etc. But I also affect the forest. When I am there, fewer animals are in my vicinity. I leave foot prints, and maybe eat berries so that there are fewer for the animals.
I think starting with this give and take sort of idea can provide a foundation.
It’s just a small step to: the system influences my behaviour and I influence the system through “these” real things.
Its an terribly dirty and overly simplistic and isn’t the “end all be all” but you might be able to make headway by demonstrating it either through a “troubleshooting of a situation where there’s a problem” or “kludging a solution” to a problem.
First iteration troubleshooting:
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I have an unsliced loaf of bread.
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I need it to be sliced.
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I get a butter knife to cut the bread.
What happened? The butter knife didn’t do a good job of cutting the bread into slices.
Second iteration troubleshooting:
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I have an unsliced loaf of bread. I now know that using a butter knife kinda works to make slices but its not very good.
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I need to slice the loaf of bread. But I don’t want the results of using a butter knife.
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I get a steak knife to cut the bread.
What happened? The steak knife did a somewhat better job than the butter knife at slicing the loaf of bread.
Third iteration troubleshooting:
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I have an unsliced loaf of bread. I now know that the butter knife does a terrible job at slicing bread. I now know that a steak knife does a better job at slicing bread than the butter knife but the results still seem to be lacking.
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I need to cut a loaf of bread into slices with better results than I get from a butter knife and steak knife.
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I get a bread knife to cut the loaf of bread.
What happened? So far, I get the best results from the bread knife. Now I know that of the three options I’ve tried so far, the bread knife is the best solution going forward.
So every attempt to solve this problem has increased my knowledge and experience. I didn’t forget what I learned in the early iterations so I get to build upon previous experiences and now have that moving forward.
Essentially, just push against individualism and keep reminding them that context (social, economic, etc) going back decades will determine much of life. It’s also helpful to try to remove binary good/bad morality from politics and explain the historical context of something, eg Russia/Ukraine, North Korea. That’s laying a foundation for more complex moves later.
Just remember that you’re not just explaining materialism, you are helping them unlearn brain worms. And that can take a long time with a lot of conversations
I’ve always found (in my experience teaching first year uni science students) teaching something directly, especially if it goes against someone’s fundamental understanding, is not very fruitful.
So saying “we are a product of the world we live in” might help, but usually isn’t too effective.
If you ask probing questions that lead to the person discovering reality themselves, that is a lasting impression. Trust that people are smart and capable. Even if they do dumb things (we all do).
Example would be asking someone what causes the seasons on Earth, and getting them to reason it out. Albeit, a non-political question is easier, the same tactics can be used for anything really.
This is the kind of thing that helped me. I’ve a friend who kept on pushing back in this way when we had political discussions. They simply asked, is that possible under capitalism and why? Eventually, it clicked and then I had to figure out why so I asked for reading recommendations and kept reading until I understood.
I always start with “what makes a thing itself?”
A bowl is a bowl because you eat out of jt, a shoe is a shoe because you put in on your foot, ect.
And if what gives meaning to a thing is its relationship to other things, what kind of relationships do we live in? Why do we live in these relationships, and how does it change us?
Point out frequently in different contexts how change is constant and there are contradictions in all things. Promote empathy by showing interconnections and why material conditions would make people do “bad” things.
