[tunesmith]

I guess I often do it internally. If someone is acting derisive towards me but still has some amount of content in their objection, I (sometimes) internally pretend that they have said only the content, minus the derisive crap, and then I respond to that.

I've also noticed that sometimes when I do that, the person I'm engaging with responds more respectfully.

Other times I hit back because sometimes people are jerks. I dunno. Jury's still out for me on whether I should ignore derision all the time.

[mannykannot]

The introduction of derision into a discussion is often a sign of weakness.