Yes, I know well of that gridlock of which you speak, Bobert. I also know that it will never end.... (smile) ...because that's the way people are. Most really prefer talking to listening. While someone else is talking, they are not really listening to him or her, they're working on the next thing THEY are going to say instead. They're listening to the voice in their own head rather than to the other person, and that makes them unreasonable. This is true in 3-D life too.

I have come to a point where I can regard all that with a certain amount of equanimity and be fairly much at peace with the fact that there are always going to be a lot of soreheads in this world, and that other people are NOT necessarily going to see something the way I see it, and there's not much I can do about it.

(shrug) Okay. That's life. Why let it drive me crazy? I will try to get along with people in any case, state my view, and accept the fact that others may see it differently...without letting that turn them into my personal "enemies". If I can manage that, then I save myself a lot of stress, right? Having enemies doesn't help me in any way.

The reason most people defend their views so strenuously is simply this: their views are part of their own personal identity, and they are very quick to defend their personal identity. If you go to the heart of their personal identify you will find that they, like you, genuinely do want a better and happier world for humanity. But they are usually focusing on it from some other angle, depending on their personal history and background which has shaped the way they see things.

In other words: "Peace, brother!"