No Rules of Evidence, Still No Truth?

No Rules of Evidence, Still No Truth?

Negotiator David Fairman says "it's amazing how smart people can let
emotions blind them to what's really important." (CINDY CANTRELL, "The consensus
is, Fairman deserves World Peace award," Boston Globe, October 14, 2007) For any
negotiation to be correct, both sides of a dispute must be truthful. In courts
truth is obscured by rules of evidence precluding a satisfactory solution.
How do negotiators decide who is being truthful? By their credentials? By
their wealth or prestige? Negotiations are a business just like the courts. The
better deceivers always win. Self deception is no less a deception.

Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM

CAMBRIDGE
The consensus is, Fairman deserves World Peace award
Boston Globe
October 14, 2007

As an undergraduate student at Harvard University, David Fairman traveled to
India, where he was taken aback by how villagers' lives were so monetarily poor
but culturally rich.

"The experience changed my life," Fairman said. "I had enjoyed a privileged
upbringing in Long Island. I came back puzzling over how the world can be so
unequal."

Determined to help the poor in the United States, Fairman discovered he had a
skill and passion for mediation while helping landlords and low-income tenants
achieve compromise in Somerville.

Since that time, he has dedicated his career to mediating public policy, social
services, and development disputes, both domestically and overseas.

Now managing director of international programs at the Consensus Building
Institute in Cambridge and a resident of Lexington, Fairman was recently
presented with the Rotary Club of Lexington's inaugural World Peace and
Understanding Award.

"For any of us who are sure we're in the right and someone else is in the
wrong," Fairman said, "it's useful to step back and decide what we really want
to achieve and how much we care about the relationship beyond this set of
issues. It's common sense, but it's amazing how smart people can let emotions
blind them to what's really important."

CINDY CANTRELL