The conflict between Science and Religion has way too many similarities to the Cold War between the US and the USSR. Each group has the power, either technical or social, to more or less exterminate the other, although, as in the Cold War, the result of that battle could end up being fatal to both sides. So, what do we have to do to prevent a lose-lose scenario? Hopefully, sane people would agree that everyone dying is not their preferred outcome.
The Harvard Negotiation project, which did the work represented in the book "Getting to Yes", had to grapple with that Cold War problem: How do we reach some accomodation when each side believes the other side is the embodiment of evil and refuses to budge, or sometimes, even to talk, or even to talk about talking.
The subtitle of the book tells the secret - "negotiating agreement without giving in." The key fact is that most people, or nations, or cultures have used a very broad brush in defining what position they feel is indispensible to their very survival. If these positions are examined, there are underlying "interests" that are actually what matter, and, yes, the parties would be willing to consider other positions so long as they were certain their underlying core values and interests were met.
That turns out to be enough flexibility to find solutions, and, in fact, the US and the USSR did not launch World War III, which they could easily have done.
The key steps, as the book cover details are these:
- Separate the people from the problem
- Focus on interests not positions
- Work together to create options that will satisfy both parties; and
- Negotiate successfully with people who are more powerful, refuse to play by the rules, or resort to "dirty tricks."
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