Kurt Gray is a professor of psychology and neuroscience who has written a book with an interesting explanation about why people fight about morality and politics and how we might find common ground. Outraged explains that we all have competing views about harm, and the real victims.

Believing you’re going to be harmed triggers outrage. For example, gun rights advocates see losing any access to their firearms as giving up the ability to protect themselves and their families. On the flip side, gun control supporters view easy access to guns as a root cause of harming innocent people. It’s easy to see that differing perceptions of harm are a principle reason for most conflicts.

Then, of course, you can add in the conflict peddlers – people who make a nice living promoting hate; anger and hate gets our attention, and advertisers love getting and keeping our attention. Recognizing that the people you might disagree with are most likely focused on protecting themselves from harm is a first step in understanding and finding common ground.