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Passion guided by reason's avatar

About the baffling miscommunication.

The instances I've suggesting just dropping the conversation have been when it seemed to me that we were starting to repeat ourselves without making progress in further refining the ideas. If you were feeling that there was more value to be had in continuing, I apologize; I was not trying to cut off a productive conversation.

I think that both of us have a similar, um, quirk, which may hook each other occassionally. I'm trying to put my finger on it, but it's sorta like being very meticulous about points of argument (using "argument" in the sense of a making coherent presentation, not in the sense of conflict). A negative framing could be about being picky, a positive framing could be about a flavor of intellectual integrity.

For example, you may make a point which I agree with, and most people would just consider it done. But if it seems to me that one of your sub-arguments is not valid, I might nevertheless push back on that sub-point. That reaction is probably not very typical in today's world. And it seems as if you have some related proclivities, prolonging a discussion about some detail beyond where most people would move on, just to "get it right". I likely go into more iterations of that with you than usual because I sense you do want to "get it right" too (rather than just trying to "win"), and because I generally respect your insights. Nevertheless, it may sometimes cause us to spend more time on a minor point than is justified; there are so many other discussions and essays about more major points to be written in the finite time than we have.

I'll be keeping all this in mind and see how that awareness can manifest in better writing. In the meanwhile, if I suggest terminating a thread (as described above), but you feel there is value in continuing (ie: that we are making some progress), speak up. I might be making the judgement call for termination too soon.

Peace. And looking forward to fruitful future discussions. By the way, where do you live?

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