Step 1. Go to Alec’s blog and read this fine piece on the frustrating tendency of people to turn arguments about substantive issues into debates about how we feel about these issues.
Step 2. Go to Edge.org and read through the pieces that were submitted in response to this year’s Edge question: What is your dangerous idea? Note how a number of the pieces address the question of relativism. On a radical relativist view, how can we have a substantive discussion about anything, since my “truth” is as good as your “truth”. (Ugh!) Note also how many of the contributors chose to talk about the concept of a “dangerous idea”, often expressing reservations that seem to be rooted in the same fear that real argument is becoming impossible.
Step 3. Pour yourself a stiff single malt Scotch and contemplate the futility of the world. Or go ride your bike down the M3. Or grab an axe and split a few cords of firewood. Or write a Zen koan. (Don’t try to combine these activities.)