Just about everyday we get to hear and read people's opinions. I attempt to understand what people are implying when they say or write such and such. I may ask, what about this, or what did you mean by that? Although, I might also respond to the opinion(s) in order to show that there could be another possibility. Some people do not like to read or hear what I have to say. But, do they not open themselves to the scrutiny of others when they decide to voice what's on their mind? On various occasions an individual may engage the discussion by erecting false dilemmas, straw man arguments, and other sorts of fallacies in an attempt to rescue their position(s). If they get called out on these fallacies they attack my character, because it appears to me that they cannot give a reasonable response.
The more I think about it, I tend to conclude that maybe these people who cannot take constructive criticism are insecure in someway. On the surface it seems as if they just do not want their assertions challenged. Maybe it's better for me not to waste my time? I mean, a person like I have described is going to want to keep living the illusion in order to protect their view(s). A person like that (as described above) is not willing to be pragmatic (it's not the same as relativism, btw) about their beliefs. The interesting thing about all this is: these people are relativists in their worldview, but they want to present an authoritarian position when it comes to what they think.
