Oh, and I have actually changed at least two people's minds almost completely away from conservatism to a much more compassionate view.

Just two, in thirty years. And neither of them had hardcore delusional beliefs

My wife's parents are very conservative, but we get along fine, because we're both determined to be as polite as possible, and I have managed to make a little headway there simply by answering questions put to me. But I think their living in Hong Kong for two years had ten times the effect on them.

I tried for almost two years with someone here with delusional beliefs, someone who I liked, if only because he was born within a few months and a few miles of where I was, and who really looked up to me.

It was like writing on sand. We kept it pretty cordial until the pandemic, and then it was just intolerable. I didn't actually unfriend him, and occasionally he appears on some Facebook thread of mine to accuse me of "pushing the narrative".