An encounter with the unfamiliar returns you to yourself

I don't explicitly disagree with someone for the sake of it, but I have found that many people present a view that you might imagine has been well thought out, but turns out to have been a received view, or a self-serving view. I have learned to watch and wait to see what people read into narratives they aren't familiar with.  In general, they read into the narrative none other than themselves -- their own preoccupations and concerns. It's rare indeed to find someone who can go beyond this.