Ah, now I get what you meant by "intelligent conversation". I guess that's the opposite of the banter-filled small talk that people normally do around here where I live.

Although normally people just pass by me and say "Hi how are ya..." and faster than I could say "Not too bad..." they are already gone. I used to get offended ("How dare them ask about me and not stay to hear the answer?!"), now I'm ok with that and I even find it funny sometimes.

But ah, conversations... I cannot remember when was the last time I had a proper conversation with anyone.

I don't know if it's because I'm not very PC, or because my opinions are a bit on the "radical" side of the scale and that scares people away (oh, you don't want to hear what I think of certain current events...), or because I'm too passionate and eloquent when I speak, or because I have such a wicked sense of humour and make quite inappropriate jokes sometimes... maybe it's all my fault? Maybe it's not.

I tend to think that, if people are dumbing it down for me, it's because they just can't keep up with me and then they try to find an elegant way out for themselves, and not because they think I'm dumb. But maybe I'm that delusional? Boy, I hope I'm not!

I think I might have developed a kind of a "defense mechanism" that I use to shield myself from the negatives of life. If I'm not treated the way I think I deserve to be treated, or if no one asks my opinion, or if no one seems to care, I just smile and softly, gently say to myself: "To hell with them!".

My wife says I make a kind of a "stern face" when I talk about certain things and people think I'm angry. Wow, I should work on that. Make it even angrier, perhaps?

Either way, I'm at that point when I don't care much for that anymore. Or maybe I do?

Anyway, I'm glad that that conference talk worked for you!