I enjoyed the point about prepending sentences with "I think." I have found that, during emotional discussions with friends or loved ones, it also behooves us

I enjoyed the point about prepending sentences with "I think." I have found that, during emotional discussions with friends or loved ones, it also behooves us to prepend many phrases with "I feel like." The common nerd defense to this approach is to cry, "But I'm saying it... of course it's just my opinion!" or, "Of course it's just my feelings!" However, prepending a sentence with "I think/I feel like..." indicates that you are not one of those frustrating people who refuses to consider other people's emotions and opinions. Additionally, "You don't consider my emotions enough" and "It feels like you don't consider my emotions enough" are two wildly different phrases, no matter which way you slice it. By prepending that sentence with "it feels like," we profoundly alter its meaning. The first sentence indicates an objective truth for which the listener can be blamed. The latter sentence indicates nothing except the speaker's internal feelings, which--for the most part--cannot be consciously controlled. No one is to blame for feelings: they simply are, and denoting a sentiment as "a feeling" rather than "a fact, which may be your fault," is a vital tactic for communicating constructively on a deep emotional level. Many nerds approach debates and communication with a feeling of entitlement to being understood. "I have spent a lot of time learning what I know, and if someone else can't understand it when I explain it to them, it is their problem, not mine." Unfortunately, this leads to severe communication issues with everyone, including other nerds. If you want someone else to understand something, and they don't get it, it is your problem as much as it is theirs. Maybe if you never have to deal with that person ever again, nor anyone else who they have to deal with, and so on, it is not your problem. But if they are a friend, colleague or loved one, it inarguably behooves you to go out of your way to make them understand what's going on in your head. Only mutual understanding of needs and desires will provide us with the opportunity to reach constructive conclusions to our problems.