Four rules for learning how to talk to each other again

PLUS: Launching satellites for NASA, pollinating plants with robots, and Europe's GDPR gets meme-ified [View this email in your browser]( [logo]( [[WIRED Magazine]5.27.18]( America is a house divided. [Red staters]( resent blue staters, believing that coastal elites look down on them, while blue staters presume red staters want nothing more than to brandish their guns and deny women access to contraceptives. But we must, writes [WIRED Ideas]( contributor [Jason Pontin]( figure out a way to get along—to start talking to each other again. "Every controversy has become part of America’s endless culture wars," he writes. "When politics is so contested, and the two parties that represent reactionary and progressive attitudes are more or less evenly matched, inertia becomes normal." To solve this seemingly intractable problem, he proposes four rules for civil discourse—what he calls the [Law of Parsimonious Claims](. Do not speak untruths. Make mostly falsifiable assertions. And if you speak from intuition rather than from fact, own up to that. Which Pontin does: "In fact, most of this column falls under this rule," he notes. We must also welcome mistakes, and then cheerfully move on from our errors. No one will end up perfectly happy with the compromises we reach, but it's a start. "Inevitably, the solution is never entirely satisfactory to anyone, because a perfectly happy wolf requires a mob of dead sheep," Pontin writes. "But a good outcome makes it possible for us to coexist." PLUS: Launching [satellites for NASA]( pollinating plants with [robots]( and meme-ifying [Europe's new privacy regulations](. Climate Science Watch SpaceX Launch NASA's Next Earth-Observing Satellites By Amy Thompson And five communications satellites from Iridium are piggybacking on the ride. food science This Robotic Pollinator Is Like a Huge Bee With Wheels and an Arm By Matt Simon In a world with too many humans and not enough pollinators, robots like the BrambleBee could help. Internet Culture How Europe's GDPR Regulations Became a Meme By Angela Watercutter Internet users fed up with flooded inboxes are turning wonky policy changes into Twitter gold. Echo Chambers Four Rules for Learning How to Talk To Each Other Again By Jason Pontin Leading an evidence-based life just might help us have a less-polarized national conversation. [advertisement]( [Powered by LiveIntent]( [Ad Choices]( [WIRED Magazine Subscription] Get Wired Memorial Day Sale! Unlimited access to WIRED.com + a free YubiKey. Save 50% - 1 year for just $5. So Long, Glassholes So Long, Glassholes: Wearables Aren't Science Projects Anymore By Adam Rogers The end of Google Glass wasn’t even the end of Google Glass. More than that, the idea of augmented reality has been normalized. Climate Desk Are Avocados Toast? By Nathanael Johnson What will we eat in 2050? California farmers are placing bets. Design This Gadget Communicates Human Emotions Through Touch By Elizabeth Stinson Thanks to some innovations at Bell Labs, you’ll soon be able to express your heart through your sleeve. Ideas The Political Theater of Controlling Ebola With Border Checks By Maryn McKenna Thermometer-wielding guards waste resources at best; at worst, they slow delivery of aid and supplies. So why do we still build checkpoints? Potty Math Math Says Urinals in Planes Could Make Lavatory Lines Shorter for Everyone By Nick Stockton As long as you've got the exact right number of urinals. [advertisement]( [Powered by LiveIntent]( [AdChoices]( [WIRED Magazine]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, [wired@newsletters.wired.com]( to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Copyright © Condé Nast 2018. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.