In order to catch fish, you need to learn to think like a fish. When I’m out fishing I think to myself, if I was a fish, what would I want to eat? What time of day would I be hungry? Where might I lurk in search of prey? Where would I feel safe from predators? Where would I go in the heat of the day, or to warm up in the morning? And then I fish with that bait, at those times, in those spots. A rudimentary knowledge of fish psychology, coupled with a careful study of the shoreline, is sure to result in more bites. But of course we can’t think like a fish. We can only think like a human who thinks what a fish might think. We can, however, observe fish behavior. So I look to when the fish are breaking the surface and figure probably means they are feeling hungry. Or where the baitfish are swirling, figuring that it’s likely that the fish I am after are nearby. From these observations, I can build up a simple profile of how a fish might think. Fish are not dumb, we just don’t understand their thoughts.
In order to convince people of our political point of view, we also need to know how they think. Some of this can be figured out by observing their behavior. What news programs and podcasts do they listen to? What politicians do they vote for? Do they go to church? But knowing how humans think is easier than it is with fish for one simple reason: we can ask people. This sort of research can be done informally: striking up casual conversations with folks in a bar or a nail salon, or it can be done more systematically. When we are planning one of the first things we do — after mapping the terrain and identifying our audience — is a detailed cost/benefit analysis of people’s reasons for doing, or not doing, what it is we’d like them to do. Knowing how people think, their motivations and resistances, means that we have a much better chance of reaching, and convincing, them. There’s another benefit to figuring out how people think too. Often activists approach their audiences with contempt: they are simply too stupid, or brainwashed, to see the obvious truth in front of them. The result: we yell louder. This convinces no one. Understanding the reasons people have for doing what they do and believing what they believe, helps us recognize all people as thinking people, and approach them with the thought and respect they deserve.