Data Analysis Opinion: Divided by more than a common languageBy Michael Kirby AC, CMG First published in The Age on 21 February, 2011.My days in court were easier. At least there, participants generally spoke a common language. Mostly they shared common assumptions. Exchanges followed a generally predictable course. Laws and traditions identified the boundaries for disagreement. Compromise, or at least resolution, was normally achievable. And when it was not, there was a general understanding of the other point of view; sometimes even a grudging respect for it. In the big world, outside the courtroom, progress is often much more difficult. Sometimes it is nearly impossible. Take three international bodies on which I am serving and events in which I have been engaged over the past year. One of them is a group advising UNAIDS, the joint UN agency that co-ordinates the worldwide efforts to reduce the spread of the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. In early 2010, I went to a conference in the Netherlands with religious leaders from around the world, aimed at promoting dialogue between experts engaged in reducing the incidence of HIV infections. A Catholic archbishop from Africa rubbed shoulders with a Hindu swami from India. …