David,

I agree wholeheartedly. I am not a competitive person, to the point that I don't even like sports. I'd rather that the teams just bought another ball so they didn't have to fight over the one.

I do not prefer war to peace or we to they. I agree with everything that has been said about demonizing opponents. It is bad form and I don't like it. I have been in many discussions where people who disagreed with ME piled on to demonize me from every direction; But I am OK with what I consider to be unfair treatment because I value myself less than I value rational thinking.

I believe it is the responsibility of every thinking/caring person to watch for and refute messed up thinking before it becomes mainstream and gets out of control. You seem to think the same thing, and I honestly respect that.

It is an inconvenient fact, however, that caring and thinking people often come to different conclusions about what is messed up thinking. This happens for a variety of reasons too complicated to address here... but it doesn't need to polarize society.

Good communication diffuses polarization in the same way that pouring extremely hot water into extremely cold water results in a temperature that is less extreme than either

Conversely, when extreme thinkers stay exclusively in the same think tank, it is like boiling the water or putting it in the freezer to make it more extreme than room temperature. Only open discussion of ideas can prevent extremism.

This is why forum discussion is good and necessary even though it is uncomfortable and sometimes abrasive... combination of opinions tends to dilute the extremes.

It bothers me when people try to stifle open discussion because they are uncomfortable with it. THAT is what leads to polarization. People who stifle communication on the premise that discussion is divisive lack a basic understanding of the principles that make societies stand or fall.

It bothers me when people try to exert peer pressure and public humiliation on those who say things they don't like. That exalts emotion over rationality. Publicly mocking an idea without taking time to understand it virtually ensures that people will go underground with their thinking and become all the more extreme.

We are the guardians of civility, and how we address difficult topics lays the groundwork for the world our kids will live in. I sincerely hope that all of us can exchange ideas without taking or giving offense, or turning the topic into a rabbit trail involving insignificant side details.

I'm not your enemy David, and I don't want to be perceived that way. I see you as a fellow inhabitant of an imperfect world, and if we don't cooperate then we are doomed to compete. And as stated already, I don't like competition, I prefer cooperation.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0