Is it possible to reason with fanatics?
Lewis Carroll examines this question in Alice in Wonderland. “The question is, said Alice, whether you can make words mean so many different things. The question is, said Humpty Dumpty, which is to be master – that’s all.”
Donald Trump is just following that edict to its illogical conclusion.
Noel Bird, Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia
• I have never considered the matter – ours is a gun culture. You might get yourself shot at.
RM Fransson, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
• Of course. My reasoning is always so cogent and well presented that only the most obtuse ever disagree with me.
Margaret Wyeth, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
• It’s possible, but unproductive.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills , Victoria, Australia
• Only by being more extreme than they are in cases where that is possible.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• Only if they are acquainted with it.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• Fanatics seek notice, so hold one’s peace or delete, accordingly.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• If you accept the “definition”, attributed to Winston Churchill, that a fanatic is one who can’t change his (her) mind and won’t change the subject, then the answer is NO.
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
Paradise being paved
Will there ever be a time without construction sites?
True they’re ugly, but my grandson loves looking at the diggers and ’scavators, and construction sites are better than destruction sites.
David Isaacs, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
• Probably not. As soon as the end of one project is in sight, the developers look for another nice old building to tear down and replace.
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• It depends where you look. There are plenty of towns and even cities where there are none even now. Like it or not, numbers of cranes on the horizon and the cacophony of jack-hammers are crude barometers of economic health in most economic systems.
John Benseman, Auckland, New Zealand
• No. When humans have become extinct there will still be ants and termites.
Marilyn Hamilton, Perth, Western Australia
• As every human is a site of the most incredible of natural constructions, let’s hope not.
Paul Broady, Christchurch, New Zealand
Woman for all good reasons
What would the role of Renaissance man entail nowadays?
• The role of new Renaissance man or (more likely) woman would be that of midwife for the worldwide rebirth of Respect, Kindness, Integrity and Truth.
Vincent Johnson, Prades-le-Lez, France
• She and her team would write for the Guardian Weekly, promoting fair-mindedness, ecological responsibilty, world peace and the cryptic crossword.
Heddi Lersey, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
• Really, they still exist?
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Any answers?
What’s so sinister about lefties?
John Geffroy, Las Vegas, New Mexico, US
Is death the question or the answer?
Annie March, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Send answers and more questions to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com
