Understanding

I find it hard to come to an understanding with people. I'm always told I argue to much, but all I want is to find an understanding of the other interests involved before I make my own observations. Socrates was sentenced to death for his insatiable appetite for understanding. I fear if I were as strong of will as he, I'd be in nearly the same boat sometimes. It is a scary thought to me that people seem to resort to their base mechanisms when in confrontation about some issue. I cannot tell if my reasoning allows me to be a hypocrite about things and I don't even realize it. When I begin to think about things like that, it becomes a very slippery slope. How do I know if I'm at fault if my reasoning won't allow it? How do I establish a foundation for reality, if reality is itself unknow. It is obvious that I have no grip upon reality when I am constantly in conflict with those around me, but in my head I can see a clear and critical path. Am I the one that is dysfunctional or is it the many around me, and can the world at large be used to gauge such a thought? If the world we live in is dysfunctional (meaning it is in a constant state of cohersion and conflict), then am I the one who is dysfunctional in my immediate surroundings for arguing some point I believe? Or, could those in my immediate surroundings be a product of a dysfunctional world? Then again, is the world dysfunctional, or is it just dysfunctional to me? Such thoughts lead to a devestation of my personal reality, and I begin to question the grounds beneath my very feet. How does one stand on ground that is inconsistent? Alas, I suppose the answers are not for me to know. I am a single man in this world, and who am I to oppose it? I just find it frustrating to see a path of understanding that could allow many people to better communicate their personal beliefs and come to compromise on what reality should be between them.