>> People seem to be increasingly concrete

yeah. I'm lucky enough to have several circles of cafe/bar friends who also enjoy open conversations. Even if we all frequently disagree, that's part of the fun. I've run into so many of this new younger generation who seem incapable of abstractly considering a topic without dragging their emotional baggage into it. I guess it's a result of helicopter parenting and social media reinforcement of the notion that speech you don't like is a form of violence. For better or worse, I just hold my ground and ease them into the idea that we can disagree and still not be enemies. Just the same as I used to do with right wing lunatics for most of my life.