Re: Israel's self-fulfilling prophecy

"John Harshman" <jharshman.diespamdie@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
John McKendry wrote:
Please back off, and try to recognize the difference between loving
terrorists and trying to stop a friend from hurting himself.

I agree completely. I wonder: are there questions on which Ray Martinez
is perfectly reasonable, so that you could carry on a discussion with
him without knowing he's full-tilt bonkers?

I did that once for the duration of a couple of postings each. But it did not
last.

Contrariwise, and scarier to
contemplate, are there questions on which I am fully as irrational as
Matt is in this thread (and in his response to your post)? I would hope
not, but how can one tell? Rationality is a thin and fragile veneer indeed.

An interesting question. You are, of course, one of the most reasonable
and moderate posters here, but you are also one of the most prolific,
so I can say that I've seen some cases where you came close to the
edge. Enough such cases so that there is a reportable pattern. You verge
on seeming irrationality when you have fallen into a mistaken assumption
about your interlocutor's ideology and/or motivation in the discussion.
This leads you to misinterpret what the other person says, or to assume
that his motivation for saying it is to jerk your chain. And it seems to drive
you crazy. The odd thing about this mode of interaction is that it is
so very difficult to snap out of it and realize that you have been operating
under a misconception. Each response from the other seems to throw
fuel on the fire rather than to lead you to ask of yourself "What am I
doing here".

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Matt seems to be in that same mode now.

.

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