When you communicate you deal with another human being you don’t get to dictate all the ways in which that interaction will go - they have a contribution in ter

When you communicate you deal with another human being you don’t get to dictate all the ways in which that interaction will go - they have a contribution in terms of direction as well as content. Lots of your points above seem to see a conversation entirely from the perspective of whether it accomplishes your goals for the conversation. The other person doesn’t necessarily share those goals. So if they “don’t stay focused on the point of the discussion” they may well be entirely focused on the point of the discussion from their point of view - the point of the discussion for them may just be different from you.