So many of the written responses to the question “please explain your answer” focus on the idea that even if the five core capacities are part of being human, they can each be enhanced or diminished through our environment. That environment may be long-term learning or it may be a single catastrophic event that takes away or diminishes the capacity. One respondent writes, “With these core capacities intact the crime rate would greatly be reduced and the community more peaceful.” That one sentence sums up an enormous segment of the responses. Sure, there may be a capacity that the people we are working with had at one point, but through various circumstances some or all of the capacities have been diminished. Some of the responses also point to the idea that their clients come to them deficient in these behaviors and the enhancement of the behaviors is a large part of what the mediator must do to help the parties make progress. Could it be that those people most likely to end up in a conflict requiring help are lacking in these skills and capacities or perhaps the ability to access these skills and capacities? If everyone in conflict could magically find these capacities, would there be fewer conflicts?
Appendix A is a collection of the written survey responses. As extrapolated from the results in Chart #1 & 2 there are strong opinions on many sides of each question. The one additional idea that runs across most of the answers is that of complexity in human behavior. The overlap in answers and constant referrals back to other questions and capacities shows an interlocking set of ideas around the human capacity to resolve conflicts without violence. I would like to think that identifying five particular capacities narrows the complexity, but that may not be the case. The literature review, and now the survey data, show an interrelated aspect to at least some of the capacities. The next phase of this research may need to add some capacities while removing others.
Several other behaviors, or core capacities, have been proposed by participants in the survey as integral to resolving conflicts. Some of those include basic ideas like: having the abilities to talk, listen, learn, see, reason, recognize social norms, etc., while others are more complex like: being present, being able to translate complex thoughts, and having a base recognition of negotiating techniques. Some of the most complex involve ideas of: compassion, self-awareness, self-preservation, self-interest, self-reflection, spiritual awareness, humility, ability to imagine a positive future, need to love and be loved, and a recognition of control over outcomes. Of all of these potential other base capacities, compassion and self-awareness appeared most frequently. Would it be worth further review to determine if they are natural abilities? Both compassion and self-awareness may have similar roots when compared with the other five core capacities and thus may be worth studying further to try to understand if they could be predictable capacities.
