>In reference to your specific interlocutor here,
Your WHAT? You crack me up sometimes. You wouldn't be trying to talk above me would you Carrol?
> I have never met
>anyone, personally or in cyberspace, with whom I shared so many ideas
>_witout_ being able to carry on a conversation with him. He can take
>fundamental ideas of the left and so twist them around that they simply
>can't be discussed. I don't understand quite why it is.
I find it helps to debate things I don't understand. Maybe you could give an example of an idea that you feel you share, but are unable to discuss because it appears "twisted"?
Often the problem is simply that people find it impossible to discuss concepts which are based on a premise they don't accept. You often need to search for these hidden premises though, they can be so familiar/unfamiliar (to the respective parties) that neither party is even conscious of them. I daresay this is your problem in this instance. We could isolate the problem if you were prepared to put your premises out in the open, but that is hard to do since you have to take the risk that they will be challenged.
If you can't bear the idea of these premises being challenged it is best to stick to the strategy of not carrying on a conversation with someone who refuses to accept them. But that isn't the same as being unable to carry on a conversation with that person, that is being unwilling to.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas