I wasn't being egotistical, misunderstanding there... which often happens. I often waste too much energy attempting to overexplain my concept or to clarify. So when the words flow, I'm content to let them stand. It's a lesson in taming my own ego for me, mind you. I realize that may ONLY make sense to me and that's cool, too. I wasn't trying to teach, merely recognizing the underlying condition that creates dissonce, like it did here. Motivations aren't apparent behind text most times. Like you, I feel ego balance is the key, not ego death... we all kind of need it to navigate the world.

The point I was attempting to make was this... we're often so caught up in the way we view things, we automatically think that someone challenging our view means us harm. We get defensive and put our sheilds up and don't listen to what's really being said. Sometimes it takes another person who's objective to referee and translate so two frustrated, defensive people can find their common ground. The nice thing is once this happens, many see the pattern and attempt to build bridges themselves.

Location, language plus many other factors ALL contribute to dissonance. I often focus on the communication aspect because it's how we as humans "interface" with each other.