TY - JOUR T1 - De-Polarising Debate JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 155 LP - 155 DO - 10.3399/bjgp20X708893 VL - 70 IS - 693 AU - Euan Lawson Y1 - 2020/04/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/70/693/155.abstract N2 - I would be willing to wager that the topics tackled in this issue will provoke robust opinions. I would counsel a pause before we launch into the necessary discussions. Psychology has provided plenty of evidence over the years that we are not as rationale as we assume. It is all too easy to become polarised in any debate. Ezra Klein explores this in his book, Why We’re Polarized, and we are quick to deploy mechanisms that preserve our sense of self and our immediate relationships. We resist factual information that threatens these and having a higher IQ or an ability to parse evidence is no defence. Indeed, some research suggests that rather than being fair and even-handed, people who are more intelligent ‘invest their … ER -