"I don't care"

Is there anything more tedious than listening to someone chatter on and on about something to which your general reaction is, "I don't care?"

The door-knocking Christian appears on your stoop. The scientist rattles on an on about the mysteries of some ciliated protozoan. The baseball aficionado remembers statistics from 1931. The patriot or activist weaves intricate and endless tapestries of how things have fallen short.

And yet I suspect the tediousness does not arise from the topic itself. For all I know, ciliated protozoa are indeed worthy of fascination. There's weird and wonderful stuff out there and I like the weird and wonderful.

What is tedious is the request or demand that I somehow agree with the point of view of the dispenser of information. In this tedium, there seems to be an unstated social contract: If I agree with you, then you are better off, more assured, less uncertain. You are improved. If I pat you on the back, then you deserve a pat on the back and what looks back at you in the bathroom mirror can be well-pleased. The contract states that if I do this for you and you do this for me ... well, everyone goes home happy.

Or do they?

The Bible is interesting enough. Ciliated protozoans are interesting enough. Baseball is interesting enough. And the topic of politics is a plate filled high. Does either of us require the other to somehow sell the product or give it additional meaning?

Sure, it's human and social and all the rest.

But seriously?