Dr Kirsty Sedgman on Being Unreasonable

What do we mean when we say that someone is being unreasonable? On the face of it, the person we're describing has either broken a rule or a social norm. But what are we basing that on?

My guest Dr Kirsty Sedgman is a Doctor of Audiences at the University of Bristol. That means she researches how audiences — for example, in the theatre — behave and respond to the performance they're watching.

Her work investigates how people find value in cultural participation. How do they experience and respond to the things they see? How are these pleasures and disappointments made meaningful in their lives? And what can all this tell us about the role of the arts in society and the relationship between cultural institutions, power, identity, and place?

More recently, she's turned that same lens onto other situations — for example, being on public transport, at work or in a cafe - to explore what being reasonable or unreasonable means.

Through her research, Kirsty has discovered that the idea of being reasonable is deeply embedded in our moral and legal judgment system and can often be subjective and influenced by personal biases. From theatre etiquette to crossing the road, there are rules in place for our safety and social norms. These can be useful, but they can also have the potential to marginalize and exclude certain groups of people.

As Kristy explains, what is reasonable or unreasonable, is actually a matter of perception. That's relevant to how we all behave, how we judge the behaviour of others and is highly relevant for those of us responsible for influencing human behaviour.

The story about the performance of the Bodyguard that was disrupted by members of the audience that I refer to is explained here: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/astonishing-moment-audience-member-screams-26658204

You can find out more about Kirsty on her website: https://kirstysedgman.com/
Her academic profile: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/people/person/Kirsty-Sedgman-35581165-6a8e-4715-9e89-05670807d2e0/

For details of her book 'Being Unreasonable':
https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571366835-on-being-unreasonable/

You can find her on social media:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/KirstySedgman

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstysedgman/

For more details on my new book 'Humanizing Rules: Bringing Behavioural Science to Ethics & Compliance' visit https://www.human-risk.com/humanizing-rules-book