Do you have any friends IRL?
No, I have disciples.
The flow is a little different on a message board, but in real life my charm tends to win people over... they usually politely disagree with my views; go away and think about it; then seek me out to discuss it further before finally coming over to my way of thinking. Once that happens a few times they tend to start thiking of me as some sort of oracle and ask my opinion on every possibe subject. It's very funny.
That's why I try not to attack people... just their stupidity.
It works better in real life... I'm just too likeable to be misconstrued as aggressive or obnoxious. But many here (those who tend to scan instead of reading) do misconstrue me as arrogant.
People are surprisingly open to shedding/re-thinking their stupidity in a friendly, open, non-judgemental environment.
Just look at this thread... the ideologues attack anyone who thinks differently from how they have been programmed to think: I'm told I hate America... no one ever asks me if I do, for example.
I use revelatory questions all the time... why not ask me a question, if you disagree.
The Luke