and arbitrating between conflicting views, rather than suppressing them. In authoritarian regimes, of course, the dissident is silenced. But as the twentieth century philosopher of science Karl Popper pointed out, totali- tarian regimes are destined at some point to fail, not because they have failed to spot a dangerous rebel, but precisely because they are so ruthlessly efficient at suppressing dissent. As a result, they are unable to learn, to challenge their own thinking, or to adapt to changing external circumstances fast enough. They slowly ossify to the point at which they are widely seen as being, in some fundamental way, outdated. The same fault might be levelled at businesses that have operated in a similarly “totalitarian” way, where the culture does not allow for any form of internal critique or enquiry.


To grow more comfortable with constructive disagree- ment, we might learn to depersonalise conflict and instead argue for the sake of progressing a project, or, more prosaically, in order to get to the bottom of things. The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates did just this. He went around questioning his fellow Athenians on a range of topics, trying to help them sort out where they might have started from the wrong assumptions or leapt to the wrong conclusion. His goal was not to show them that they were fools or to make himself appear superior. Socrates did not con- sider himself especially wise: he was baffled when the Delphic Oracle (the high priestess of ancient Greece’s most holy temple) declared that he was the wisest


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