One of the coaches at my gym posted a video on his Instagram of him getting a pizza with pineapple on it, known as Hawaiian Pizza. He claimed that this is the “best” type of pizza, and put out a call for people to disagree with him.
And people did, as you might expect.
Another coach opined that pineapple on pizza is the worst.
The next thing you knew, the main whiteboard at the gym had a “vote tally” chart on it.
Suddenly, nobody in the gym could avoid being asked to declare allegiance to one camp or the other.
Pineapple on pizza is apparently one of those pairings that has a firm division: you’re either a hard yes or a hard no. Very few people are indifferent.
In an era of mass cultural polarization on major important issues, the debate about pineapple on pizza seems fairly trivial.
It’s a frivolous diversion from the more weighty topics of the moment. Sometimes that’s exactly what we need when it feels like we can’t agree on the bigger things in life.
But the pineapple on pizza debate also reveals something deeper that’s worth noticing:
As polarizing as this issue might be in the realm of food choices, nobody is making value judgments about people based on their preference.
The debate among coaches and members of my gym has been lighthearted and in good spirits.
We recognize that we can still be friends and get along with people even if their tastes for food don’t fully align with ours.
We recognize that whether someone likes pineapple on pizza doesn’t make them a bad person or a good person. It doesn’t make a person more or less worthy of love.
It’s just a preference.
If you think pineapple on pizza is the grossest combination ever invented, nobody’s going to force you to eat it. And if you think it’s the best thing ever, nobody is going to stop you from eating as much as you want.
We can learn something from this to apply to the state of affairs in the world.
The polarization we are experiencing in the current era isn’t just a function of differing beliefs, philosophies, or values.
For as long as human beings have existed and will exist, different issues will create camps on one side or the other. People come at things with different values, beliefs, and philosophies.
But those different perspectives on their own don’t create polarization. Polarization is a result of forgetting that while people may have different perspectives, people are not their perspectives.
Polarization comes from not allowing space for people to have their perspective, and from the belief that we all must be in the same camp.
Next time you find yourself in a heated disagreeing on a more weighty issue, invite a pause and consider how you’d respond if you were debating pineapple on pizza.
It might help you ease the tension and lighten the mood.
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