The Mill City Times Interview: Hon. Bruce Peterson, University of Minnesota Law School

Article by Becky Fillinger 

We’re bombarded daily, even hourly, with news of how polarized our society has become. With a contentious 18-month campaign and culminating election next week, people are looking for solutions to reduce stress in their lives. We reached out to an expert, Hon. Bruce Peterson of the University of Minnesota Law School, who tells us about his course on peacemaking, mindfulness and tips for healing our community.

Hon. Bruce PetersonQ:  You teach a class at the University of Minnesota Law School on Lawyers as Peacemakers. One syllabus item is a daily mindfulness practice. Do you believe that mindfulness can help ordinary citizens become better peacemakers? Or help us become better citizens? If yes, how?

A:  Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgment. Developing this skill helps us become aware of our own thoughts and emotions, as well as those of other people. We become calmer, less reactive, and more thoughtful. Few things could make us better peacemakers or better citizens, especially in a country that is so over stimulated and where people are prone to instinctual reactions to whatever they hear or see.

Q:  How did you develop peacemaking as a specialty?

A:  “Specialty” perhaps overstates my expertise. I became interested in peacemaking during my 20 years as a judge watching people struggle with conflict. It became apparent to me that people have a complex human nature, with both good and bad features, and circumstances and conditions have a lot to do with which part of our nature comes out at any given time. I also saw that certain legal reforms, like problem solving courts, restorative justice, and collaborative law, simply worked better than traditional adversarial, retributive processes. So I embarked on a study of what conditions would consistently bring out the best in people.

Q:  Is there something in human evolution that leads us to want to collaborate?

A:  Absolutely! We are the only ultra-social species, able to collaborate readily in worldwide networks of unrelated individuals. This capacity originated with the communal nature of the first human hunter-gatherer bands two million years ago. Skills like reciprocity and group loyalty made it into the next generation, whereas people who tried to go it alone did not pass on their genes.

Q:  Many of us are very anxious about the election. Aside from the active step of voting, what can we do to facilitate peace for ourselves and our communities? And I also think we are a deeply polarized country which seeps into divisions in our local communities. Other than mindfulness, are there other activities we can engage in to heal our local communities?  

A:  I have several suggestions:

1. Be aware of our instinctive reactions to political issues, especially since they are so primed by the politicians, bloggers, and commentators who enhance their careers by stoking our animosity. Hearing something that supports our team or “disses” the other guys actually gives us a hit of the feel-good-hormone, dopamine. We become literally addicted to polarization. See it and resist it!

2. Since we are such a collaborative species, social interaction outweighs political ideology. We listen to and try to understand and to be truly heard by people we talk to face to face and whose good will and respect we want to elicit. So it is useful to seek opportunities to truly listen to people we disagree with and not simply jump to contradict them. The next best thing is to listen to or read opposing viewpoints and try to picture how people of good will might hold these views. A convenient place to start is with the red/blue conversations organized by Braver Angels, or take the With Malice Toward None pledge.

3. Many local activities, organizations, teams and projects cut across tribal lines and have nothing to do with political ideology. That is where most of the creative and productive activity in our country is going on at this time. The more contact we have with different kinds of people, the less their politics matters. Act locally and give politics a rest. 

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About Becky Fillinger

I’ve been a resident of the Mill District only since July 2019, but have visited the Guthrie, the Farmers Market, restaurants and friends in the area for many years prior to making the leap to Minneapolis. I’ve lived in many places (and climates) in the US and can testify that our cultural events, bicycle and hiking trails, parks and green spaces, museums, diverse neighborhoods and wonderful restaurants put Minnesota and Minneapolis high on my best places list. I’m a member of the Mill City Singers and look forward to our choir practices and performances.

One of my main interests is community - a very broad concept. For me it means bringing people together with common interests to form meaningful relationships. I look forward to reporting on businesses and individuals in our neighborhoods. Feel free to drop me an email at becky_fillinger@hotmail.com with your thoughts and ideas for stories.