I’m sorry, I’m too low-level to participate in this discussion
Actually, I think one good way of getting the message across that doesn’t give the impression of looking down on the other person might be to say “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m able to think clearly enough about politics. It’s the mind-killer.” Showing that it effects you is probably a better way of using the phrase.
I like this approach. Better still is ‘it mind-kills me,’ since ‘it’s the mind-killer’ invites universal generalization and can always be read as a veiled attack. ‘X is the stupidity-bringer’ just isn’t safe grammatically.
Actually, I think one good way of getting the message across that doesn’t give the impression of looking down on the other person might be to say “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m able to think clearly enough about politics. It’s the mind-killer.” Showing that it effects you is probably a better way of using the phrase.
I like this approach. Better still is ‘it mind-kills me,’ since ‘it’s the mind-killer’ invites universal generalization and can always be read as a veiled attack. ‘X is the stupidity-bringer’ just isn’t safe grammatically.