For me, it was a rhetorical communication analysis using “Schismogenesis and the Community” by Mackin — an articulation of the inherent duality in every topic.

At its core, schismogenesis describes how interactions between groups can reinforce and amplify differences. There are two primary types:

• Symmetrical schismogenesis: where groups mirror and escalate each other’s actions (e.g., outrage met with outrage).
• Complementary schismogenesis: where one side’s dominance encourages the other’s submission (e.g., authority vs. compliance).

In today’s polarized landscape — political, cultural, even epistemic — we see symmetrical schismogenesis everywhere: each side reacting to the other’s excesses, each convinced that the other has lost touch with reality. Social media amplifies this recursive loop of escalation, rewarding outrage and certainty over nuance.

Today, I still draw on those lessons, which seem more relevant than ever today, when we live in a country where half the citizens believe the other half has lost their mind.

Part of Voices that Carry — celebrating 149 years of Oregon Forensics.