Will ChatGPT replace political commentators?

after highlighting the existence of conflict in the perception and emotional domains, it’s easy to make a sense of the third shape of conflicts that exist in the action domain. Usually, we see and understand conflicts in the action domain around us and, more importantly, we become concerned about conflicts if we see them in action. So, for example, if two people get into a physical fight, we might feel pushed to stop the fight because we saw it in action; however, we don’t feel that much concern if the fight exists in the perception and emotional domain. Sometimes, our disinterest in engaging with conflict when it’s in the emotional or perception domain is intentional, but a majority of the time it’s because we don’t know the science of how to engage with conflict when it’s in the perception and emotional domain. Mayer enlightens us that the action part of conflict does not come from a vacuum, but the action part of conflict feeds itself from the perception and emotional domains of conflict.

Before I share the bigger takeaways from Mayer’s insights, I just want to share two more insights from Mayer which are in line with the current discussion.

First,Mayer says that the three shapes of conflict feed each other; however, conflict does not happen in a linear shape. That means that it’s not like conflict first always starts in perception, then it moves into the

THE AI COULD PUSH MANY WRITERS INTO EARLY RETIREMENT analysis and commentary on the United States’ domestic and international affairs. Blankenship’s work often emphasizes the country’s political polarization, its role in global affairs, and its domestic social and economic issues.” emotional domain and then it reflects itself in action. It can start in any domain and can start feeding the other domains.

Mayer’s second insight is that humans have conflicts all around; however, their approach toward conflicts is reactionary. In simple words, Mayer wants to say that though conflict is part of human life yet humans, kind of, have a negative approach to conflict. Being in conflict is perceived as negative among humans, in simple words. This negative perception regarding conflict among humans right from the beginning is not allowing humans to overcome conflicts sustainably, as per Mayer.

The message Mayer wants to convey is that we need to change our perceptions regarding conflict as a phenomenon if we want to effectively deal with it. We need to treat it as any other phenomenon in our life; need to objectively analyze it, and based on sound judgement find a way to deal with it. We need to remove the stigmas attached to the meaning of conflict in our lives. We need to own conflicts and instead of running away from them, we need to stay with our conflicts, especially if we want to resolve them on a long-term basis. If we don’t deal with conflicts that way and approach them with a negative approach, then our approach towards conflict resolution will be superficial and our solutions will not be long-lasting. In Peace & Conflict Studies, we call the resolution of conflicts through temporary measures negative Peace and resolution of conflicts through long-lasting measures Positive Peace.

Since I came across these insights regarding conflict, I find myself more conscious, especially about the presence of conflicts all around me in my day-to-day life, and I think that can happen to anyone who gets such a nuanced understanding of conflict. Seemingly, it may seem overwhelming to deal with such a wide range of real and abstract conflicts, but I think if we are in a position to dissect what is in front of us and stick to Mayer’s advice that is to embrace conflict without any negative preconceptions about it, I think we all can resolve conflicts not only in our individual lives but also in our collective lives present in the shape of society and state. after all, all you need to resolve a conflict is awareness.

The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Political Science & International Relations at the University of Management & Technology (UMT), Lahore. He can be reached at inamullah.marwat@umt.edu.pk