Can we talk?

Can two (or more) people communicate?  This is a serious and important question these days, even IF they can speak the same language.  To help people communicate with me there are a few fundamental things that I find are critical to being able to share your ideas with me:

1) I am a lifelong student of science and the scientific method, and while not perfect, or always a straight line to the correct answer, it eventually works for knowing our universe.  If you don't think science has the answer to the question about our physical world, then we can have a great philosophical discussion, but not a practical, real world one.  Example of this

• Gravity is a "theory" and is a fact on earth, and by current research throughout  the universe.
• Smoking causes cancer.  The Tobacco industry spent a LOT of money to muddy this scientific result for over 25 years.
• Climate change is caused by humans.  The fossil fuel industry continues to spend a LOT of money to muddy this scientific results since the 90's.  Even the fossil fuel industry doesn't say climate change isn't real anymore, though some less informed people do. :-)
• Humans have visited the moon.  Currently only citizens from the U.S of A., but several countries' robots now.  This is not so much science as engineering.  
• SARS-COV-2 originated in bats and either directly or through an intermediate species (pangolin?) jumped to humans, first in China.

That said, there are many, many things that science does not know the final or ultimate answer to.  

• Is there other intelligent  life in the universe?
• How does consciousness work? 

2) If you believe that that any one gender, race, ethnic group, nationality, religion, culture or whatever way you want to separate people into 'us' and 'them' is inherently superior to any other gender, race, ethnic group, nationality, religion, culture, then we will have a hard time having a valuable exchange.  This isn't to deny any differences between gender, race, ethnic group, nationality, religion, cultures.  These differences are a part of what make this world an exquisitely beautiful and interesting place.  It is this belief in superiority that prevents a full discussion.