What happened when we paired up thousands of strangers to talk politics | Jochen Wegner

Translator: Elda Indria Sari Reviewer: Ade Indarta

Now, this is Joanna.

Ini Joanna.

Joanna works at a university in Poland.

Joanna bekerja di sebuah universitas di Polandia.

And one Saturday morning at 3am,

Pada hari Sabtu pukul 3 dini hari,

she got up, packed her rucksack

dia bangun, mengemas ranselnya

and traveled more than a thousand kilometers,

dan menempuh jarak lebih dari seribu kilometer,

only to have a political argument

hanya untuk berdebat politik

with a stranger.

dengan orang yang tak dikenalnya.

His name is Christof, and he's a customer manager from Germany.

Namanya Christof, seorang manajer pelanggan dari Jerman.

Keduanya belum pernah bertemu.

And the two had never met before.

They only knew that they were totally at odds over European politics,

Mereka hanya tahu kalau mereka berselisih paham tentang politik Eropa,

over migration, or the relationship to Russia or whatever.

tentang migrasi, atau hubungan dengan Rusia dan sebagainya.

And they were arguing for almost one day.

Mereka berdebat hampir sehari penuh.

And after that, Joanna sent me a somewhat irritating email.

Setelah itu, Joanna mengirim email yang cukup menjengkelkan.

"That was really cool, and I enjoyed every single minute of it!"

"Tadi itu keren sekali, aku menikmati setiap menitnya!"

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

So these are Tom from the UK and Nils from Germany.

Ini adalah Tom dari Inggris dan Nils dari Jerman.

They also were strangers,

Mereka juga tidak saling mengenal,

and they are both supporters of their local football team,

Keduanya adalah suporter tim sepak bola masing-masing daerah,

as you may imagine, Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspurs.

Borussia Dortmund dan Tottenham Hotspurs, seperti bayangan Anda.

And so they met on the very spot where football roots were invented,

Mereka bertemu di tempat di mana akar sepak bola diciptakan,

on some field in Cambridge.

di satu lapangan di Cambridge.

And they didn't argue about football,

Mereka tidak berdebat tentang sepak bola,

but about Brexit.

tapi tentang Brexit.

And after talking for many hours about this contentious topic,

Setelah berbicara berjam-jam tentang topik kontroversial ini,

they also sent a rather unexpected email.

mereka juga mengirim email yang agak tak terduga.

"It was delightful, and we both enjoyed it very much."

"Tadi itu menyenangkan, kami sangat menikmatinya."

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

So in spring 2019,

Di musim semi 2019,

more than 17,000 Europeans from 33 countries

lebih dari 17.000 warga Eropa dari 33 negara

signed up to have a political argument.

mendaftarkan diri untuk berdebat politik.

Thousands crossed their borders to meet a stranger with a different opinion,

Ribuan menyeberangi perbatasan untuk bertemu orang tak dikenal

dengan opini berbeda,

and they were all part of a project called "Europe Talks."

mereka adalah bagian dari proyek bernama "Europe Talks."

Now, talking about politics amongst people with different opinions

Berbicara politik antara orang-orang yang berbeda opini

has become really difficult,

telah menjadi sangat sulit,

not only in Europe.

tidak hanya di Eropa.

Families are splitting, friends no longer talk to each other.

Keluarga terpecah, teman-teman tak lagi saling bicara.

We stay in our bubbles.

Kita tinggal di dalam gelembung.

And these so-called filter bubbles are amplified by social media,

Hal yang disebut filter bubble ini diperkuat oleh media sosial,

but they are not, in the core, a digital product.

tapi intinya bukan produk digital.

The filter bubble has always been there.

Filter bubble selalu ada di sana.

It's in our minds.

Ia ada di dalam pikiran kita.

As many studies repeatedly have shown,

Seperti yang telah ditunjukkan berulang kali oleh banyak studi,

we, for example, ignore effects that contradict our convictions.

kita, contohnya, mengabaikan efek yang bertentangan dengan keyakinan kita.

So correcting fake news is definitely necessary,

Jadi, mengoreksi berita palsu pasti perlu,

but it's not sufficient to get a divided society

tapi itu tak cukup untuk membuat masyarakat yang terpecah

to rethink itself.

untuk berpikir kembali.

Fortunately, according to at least some research,

Untungnya, berdasarkan beberapa penelitian,

there may be a simple way to get a new perspective:

ada cara mudah mendapatkan perspektif baru:

a personal one-on-one discussion

diskusi personal satu lawan satu

with someone who doesn't have your opinion.

dengan mereka yang berbeda opini.

It enables you to see the world in a new way,

Ini memungkinkan Anda melihat dunia dalam cara baru,

through someone else's eyes.

lewat mata orang lain.

Now, I'm the editor of "ZEIT ONLINE,"

Saya adalah editor "ZEIT ONLINE,"

one of the major digital news organizations in Germany.

salah satu organisasi media digital utama di Jerman.

And we started what became "Europe Talks" as a really modest editorial exercise.

Kami memulai "Europe Talks" sebagai suatu latihan editorial sederhana.

As many journalists,

Seperti halnya banyak jurnalis,

we were impressed by Trump and by Brexit,

kami terkesan dengan Trump dan Brexit,

and Germany was getting divided, too, especially over the issue of migration.

Jerman juga sedang terbagi, terutama oleh isu migrasi.

So the arrival of more than a million refugees in 2015 and 2016

Jadi, kedatangan lebih dari sejuta pengungsi di tahun 2015 dan 2016

dominated somewhat the debate.

mendominasi perdebatannya.

And when we were thinking about our own upcoming election in 2017,

Ketika kami memikirkan tentang pemilu 2017 yang akan datang,

we definitely knew that we had to reinvent the way we were dealing with politics.

kami tahu kami harus menemukan cara baru berurusan dengan politik.

So digital nerds that we are,

Sebagai kutu buku digital,

we came up with obviously many very strange digital product ideas,

kami punya banyak ide produk digital yang aneh,

one of them being a Tinder for politics --

salah satunya Tinder untuk politik --

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

a dating platform for political opposites,

platform kencan untuk lawan politik,

a tool that could help get people together with different opinions.

alat yang bisa membantu mempertemukan orang-orang dengan opini berbeda.

And we decided to test it

Kami memutuskan untuk mengujinya

and launched what techies would call a "minimum viable product."

dan meluncurkan apa yang disebut sebagai "produk minimum yang layak."

So it was really simple.

Jadi ini sangat sederhana.

We called it "Deutschland spricht" -- "Germany Talks" --

Kami menyebutnya "Deutschland Spricht"-- "Germany Talks" --

and we started with that in May 2017.

kami memulainya di bulan Mei, 2017.

And it was really simple.

Ini sangat sederhana.

We used mainly Google Forms,

Kami menggunakan Google Forms,

a tool that each and every one of us here can use to make surveys online.

alat yang bisa kita gunakan untuk membuat survei online.

And everywhere in our content, we embedded simple questions like this:

Dalam konten, kami menanamkan pertanyaan-pertanyaan sederhana seperti:

"Did Germany take in too many refugees?"

"Apakah Jerman menampung terlalu banyak pengungsi?'

You click yes or no.

Anda klik ya atau tidak.

We asked you more questions, like, "Does the West treat Russia fairly?"

Kami bertanya lebih banyak, seperti,

"Apakah negara Barat berlaku adil terhadap Rusia?"

or, "Should gay couples be allowed to marry?"

atau, "Bolehkah pasangan gay menikah?"

And if you answered all these questions, we asked one more question:

Jika sudah selesai menjawab, kami bertanya satu hal lagi:

"Hey, would you like to meet a neighbor who totally disagrees with you?"

"Hey, maukah Anda bertemu tetangga yang sama sekali tidak setuju dengan Anda?"

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

So this was a really simple experiment with no budget whatsoever.

Ini adalah sebuah eksperimen sederhana tanpa anggaran apa pun.

We expected some hundred-ish people to register,

Kami mengira ada sekitar ratusan yang mendaftar,

and we planned to match them by hand, the pairs.

dan kami berencana mencocokkan mereka secara manual.

And after one day, 1,000 people had registered.

Setelah satu hari, sudah ada 1,000 orang yang mendaftar.

And after some weeks, 12,000 Germans had signed up

Setelah beberapa minggu, 12,000 warga Jerman sudah mendaftar

to meet someone else with a different opinion.

untuk bertemu dengan mereka yang berbeda opini.

So we had a problem.

Jadi, kami mendapat masalah.

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

We hacked a quick and dirty algorithm

Kami meretas algoritma yang cepat dan kotor

that would find the perfect Tinder matches,

yang akan menemukan pasangan Tinder yang sempurna,

like people living as close as possible having answered the questions

seperti orang yang tinggal sedekat mungkin

tapi dengan jawaban yang sangat berbeda.

as differently as possible.

We introduced them via email.

Kami memperkenalkan mereka lewat email.

And, as you may imagine, we had many concerns.

Seperti yang Anda bayangkan, ada banyak kekhawatiran.

Maybe no one would show up in real life.

Mungkin tak ada yang muncul.

Maybe all the discussions in real life would be awful.

Mungkin diskusi secara langsung akan jadi mengerikan.

Or maybe we had an axe murderer in our database.

Atau mungkin ada pembunuh berkapak di database kami.

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

But then, on a Sunday in June 2017,

Tapi, pada hari Minggu di bulan Juni 2017,

something beautiful happened.

sesuatu yang indah terjadi.

Thousands of Germans met in pairs and talked about politics peacefully.

Ribuan orang Jerman bertemu berpasangan dan bicara tentang politik dengan damai.

Like Anno.

Seperti Anno.

He's a former policeman who's against -- or was against -- gay marriage,

Dia adalah mantan polisi yang menentang-- atau tadinya menentang pernikahan sejenis,

and Anne, she's an engineer who lives in a domestic partnership

kemudian Anne, seorang insinyur yang hidup satu rumah

with another woman.

dengan wanita lain.

And they were talking for hours about all the topics

Mereka berbicara berjam-jam mengenai segala topik

where they had different opinions.

di mana mereka berbeda opini.

At one point, Anno told us later,

Di satu titik, Anno mengatakan pada kami,

he realized that Anne was hurt by his statements about gay marriage,

dia sadar Anne terluka karena ucapannya tentang pernikahan sejenis,

and he started to question his own assumptions.

dan dia mulai mempertanyakan asumsinya sendiri.

And after talking for three hours,

Setelah berbicara selama tiga jam,

Anne invited Anno to her summer party,

Anne mengundang Anno ke pesta musim panasnya,

and today, years later,

dan hari ini, bertahun-tahun setelahnya,

they still meet from time to time and are friends.

kadang mereka masih bertemu, dan mereka berteman.

So our algorithm matched, for example, this court bailiff.

Jadi algoritma kami cocok, contohnya, juru sita pengadilan ini.

He's also a spokesperson of the right-wing populist party AfD in Germany,

Dia juga juru bicara AfD, partai populis sayap kanan di Jerman,

and this counselor for pregnant women.

dan konselor untuk wanita hamil ini.

She used to be an active member of the Green Party.

Dulunya dia anggota aktif Green Party.

We even matched this professor and his student.

Kami bahkan mencocokkan profesor ini dengan muridnya.

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

It's an algorithm.

Ini adalah algoritma.

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

We also matched a father-in-law and his very own daughter-in-law,

Kami juga mencocokkan seorang ayah mertua dengan menantu perempuannya,

because, obviously, they live close by but have really different opinions.

karena jelas mereka tinggal berdekatan tapi memiliki opini yang sangat berbeda.

So as a general rule,

Jadi sebagai aturan umum,

we did not observe, record, document the discussions,

kami tidak mengamati, merekam, mendokumentasikan diskusi-diskusinya,

because we didn't want people to perform in any way.

karena kami tak mau memengaruhi mereka.

But I made an exception.

Tapi saya membuat pengecualian.

I took part myself.

Saya sendiri ikut serta.

And so I met in my trendy Berlin neighborhood called Prenzlauer Berg,

Saya bertemu di lingkungan trendi Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg,

I met Mirko.

saya bertemu Mirko.

This is me talking to Mirko. Mirko didn't want to be in the picture.

Ini waktu saya bicara dengan Mirko. Mirko tidak mau ada di foto.

He's a young plant operator,

Dia adalah seorang operator pabrik muda,

and he looked like all the hipsters in our area,

dan dia nampak seperti hipster di daerah kami

like with a beard and a beanie.

dengan janggut dan topi kupluk.

We were talking for hours, and I found him to be a wonderful person.

Kami bicara berjam-jam, dan ternyata dia orang yang menyenangkan.

And despite the fact that we had really different opinions

Walaupun opini kami sangat berbeda

about most of the topics --

mengenai sebagian besar topik --

maybe with the exception of women's rights,

mungkin dengan pengecualian hak-hak perempuan,

where I couldn't comprehend his thoughts --

di mana saya tak bisa memahami pemikirannya --

it was really nice.

itu sangat menyenangkan.

After our discussion, I Googled Mirko.

Setelah diskusi, saya mencari Mirko di Google.

And I found out that in his teenage years, he used to be a neo-Nazi.

Ternyata di masa remaja, dia dulunya seorang neo-Nazi.

So I called him and asked,

Jadi saya meneleponnya dan bertanya,

"Hey, why didn't you tell me?"

"Hey, kenapa kau tidak bilang padaku?"

And he said, "You know, I didn't tell you because I want to get over it.

Dia berkata, "Aku tak bilang padamu karena aku ingin melupakannya.

I just don't want to talk about it anymore."

Aku hanya tak ingin membahasnya lagi."

I thought that people with a history like that could never change,

Saya pikir orang dengan sejarah macam itu tak pernah bisa berubah,

and I had to rethink my assumptions,

saya harus memikirkan ulang asumsi saya,

as did many of the participants who sent us thousands of emails

seperti halnya banyak peserta lain yang mengirimkan ribuan email

and also selfies.

dan juga swafoto.

No violence was recorded whatsoever.

Tidak ada kekerasan apa pun yang terekam.

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

And we just don't know if some of the pairs got married.

Kami juga tak tahu apa ada pasangan yang menikah.

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

But, at least, we were really excited and wanted to do it again,

Setidaknya, kami sangat bersemangat dan ingin melakukannya lagi,

especially in version 2.0,

terutama di versi 2.0,

wanted to expand the diversity of the participants,

kami ingin memperluas keragaman peserta,

because obviously in the first round, they were mainly our readers.

karena di babak pertama, kebanyakan adalah para pembaca kami.

And so we embraced our competition

Kami merangkul kompetitor kami

and asked other media outlets to join.

dan mengajak media lain bergabung.

We coordinated via Slack.

Kami berkoordinasi lewat Slack.

And this live collaboration among 11 major German media houses

Kolaborasi langsung antara 11 media utama Jerman ini

was definitely a first in Germany.

adalah yang pertama di Jerman.

The numbers more than doubled: 28,000 people applied this time.

Angkanya bertambah lebih dari 2x lipat: kali ini 28.000 orang mendaftar.

And the German president --

Presiden Jerman --

you see him here in the center of the picture --

Anda bisa lihat Beliau di tengah foto --

became our patron.

menjadi penyokong kami.

And so, thousands of Germans met again in the summer of 2018

Ribuan orang Jerman bertemu lagi di musim panas 2018

to talk to someone else with a different opinion.

untuk berbicara dengan mereka yang berbeda opini.

Some of the pairs we invited to Berlin to a special event.

Sebagian kami undang ke Berlin untuk acara khusus.

And there, this picture was taken,

Di sanalah foto ini diambil,

until today my favorite symbol for "Germany Talks."

ini simbol "Germany Talks" favorit saya hingga hari ini.

You see Henrik, a bus driver and boxing trainer,

Ini Henrik, pengemudi bis dan pelatih tinju,

and Engelbert, the director of a children's help center.

dan Engelbert, pimpinan sebuah pusat bantuan anak-anak.

They answered all of the seven questions we asked differently.

Mereka menjawab tujuh pertanyaan kami secara berbeda.

They had never met before this day,

Mereka belum pernah bertemu sampai hari itu,

and they had a really intensive discussion

dan mereka berdiskusi dengan intensif

and seemed to get along anyway

tapi mereka tetap kelihatan akrab

with each other.

satu sama lain.

So this time we also wanted to know

Kali ini kami juga ingin tahu

if the discussion would have any impact on the participants.

apakah diskusi ini berdampak pada para peserta.

So we asked researchers to survey the participants.

Kami meminta peneliti untuk menyurvei para peserta.

And two-thirds of the participants said that they learned something

Dua per tiga mengatakan bahwa mereka mempelajari sesuatu

about their partner's attitudes.

tentang sikap pasangannya.

Sixty percent agreed that their viewpoints converged.

60 persen setuju bahwa sudut pandang mereka bertemu.

The level of trust in society seemed also higher after the event,

Tingkat kepercayaan masyarakat tampaknya juga meningkat setelah acara,

according to the researchers.

menurut para peneliti.

Ninety percent said that they enjoyed their discussion.

90 persen berkata bahwa mereka menikmati diskusinya.

Ten percent said they didn't enjoy their discussion,

sepuluh persen berkata mereka tidak menikmati diskusi mereka,

eight percent only because, simply, their partner didn't show up.

delapan persen karena pasangan mereka tidak muncul.

(Laughter)

(Tertawa)

After "Germany Talks," we got approached by many international media outlets,

Setelah "Germany Talks", kami didekati banyak media internasional,

and we decided this time to build a serious and secure platform.

kali ini kami memutuskan untuk membangun platform yang serius dan aman.

We called it "My Country Talks."

Kami menyebutnya "My Country Talks."

And in this short period of time, "My Country Talks" has already been used

Dalam waktu singkat, "My Country Talks" telah digunakan

for more than a dozen local and national events

di lebih dari selusin acara lokal dan nasional

like "Het grote gelijk" in Belgium or "Suomi puhuu" in Finland

seperti "Het grote gelijk" di Belgia atau "Suomi puhuu" di Firlandia

or "Britain Talks" in the UK.

atau "Britain Talks" di Inggris.

And as I mentioned at the beginning, we also launched "Europe Talks,"

Seperti yang saya sebutkan di awal, kami juga meluncurkan "Europe Talks,"

together with 15 international media partners,

bersama dengan 15 media partner internasional,

from the "Financial Times" in the UK to "Helsingin Sanomat" in Finland.

mulai dari "Financial Times" di Inggris sampai "Helsingin Sanomat" di Firlandia.

Thousands of Europeans met with a total stranger

Ribuan warga Eropa bertemu orang yang sama sekali asing

to argue about politics.

untuk berdebat tentang politik.

So far, we have been approached by more than 150 global media outlets,

Sejauh ini, kami sudah dihubungi lebih dari 150 media global,

and maybe someday there will be something like "The World Talks,"

mungkin suatu hari akan ada sesuatu seperti "The World Talks,"

with hundreds of thousands of participants.

dengan ratusan ribu peserta.

But what matters here are not the numbers,

Tapi yang penting bukan angkanya,

obviously.

tentu saja.

What matters here is ...

Yang penting adalah

Whenever two people meet to talk in person for hours

ketika dua orang bertemu untuk saling bicara selama berjam-jam

without anyone else listening,

tanpa ada orang lain yang mendengarkan,

they change.

mereka berubah.

And so do our societies.

Demikian juga dengan masyarakat.

They change little by little, discussion by discussion.

Mereka berubah sedikit demi sedikit, diskusi demi diskusi.

What matters here is that we relearn

Yang penting adalah kita belajar kembali

how to have these face-to-face discussions,

bagaimana cara berdiskusi satu lawan satu

without anyone else listening,

tanpa ada orang lain yang menguping,

with a stranger.

dengan seorang asing.

Not only with a stranger we are introduced to

Tidak hanya orang asing yang dikenalkan

by a Tinder for politics,

lewat Tinder untuk politik,

but also with a stranger in a pub or in a gym or at a conference.

tapi juga dengan orang asing di pub atau gym atau di sebuah konferensi.

So please meet someone

Jadi, temuilah seseorang

and have an argument

ajak mereka berargumen

and enjoy it very much.

dan nikmatilah sepenuh hati.

Thank you.

Terima kasih.

(Applause)

(Tepuk tangan)

Wow!

Wow!

(Applause)

(Tepuk tangan)