Civility is the natural state for people who know how limited their own individual powers are and know, too, that they need the conversation. They are useless without the conversation.
— David Brooks

Jonathan Haidt

The guy who thought of the metaphor of asteroids

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and Professor of Business Ethics at the NYU-Stern School of Business. He is the author of over 80 academic articles and two books: “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion” and “The Happiness Hypothesis.” He is the co-developer of Moral Foundations theory, and of the research site YourMorals.org. He uses his research to help people understand and respect the moral motives of their enemies (see CivilPolitics.org and – uh – AsteroidsClub.org). His homepage is here.

Steve Seibert

President (because real clubs have to have presidents)

Steve Seibert has served as an elected official and state agency director in Florida. He is a lawyer, an award winning mediator, a professional futurist (now you know why we made him president) and was described by the Tampa Bay Times as one of Florida’s “significant thinkers.”  He brings a lifetime of dispute resolution and policy-making experience – and significant thinking – to The Asteroids Club and to The Village Square as a member of its board of directors.  Email Steve at steve@seibertlaw.com so he can feel presidential.

Liz Joyner

Chief Implementation Officer of Significant Thinking & Bright Ideas (like deflecting asteroids)

As the Executive Director of Florida nonprofit The Village Square, devoted to growing civil dialogue across the partisan divide, Liz Joyner clearly likes a challenge. And dealing with a few asteroids headed toward earth seemed like a cakewalk in comparison to trying to get politicians to behave respectfully toward each other.  You can reach Liz at liz@asteroidclub.org if you ever want to suggest similar insane challenges like breaking the space-time continuum.

Matthew Wilson

Real-Life Asteroid Deflecting Superhero

As the Webmaster with The Village Square, Matt has submitted himself to about seven years of harebrained schemes.  With this adventure, the tradition continues.  Type in matthew@asteroidclub.org if you’ve got a web (or asteroid) related issue.