If you want to actually engage in some stuff, make sure you do it in the same way you would your crazy family member. "I think we need to put guns in hands of every child."- Oh that is interesting, but would that really help and what about this or that? "Oh we need to ban guns."- You may be right, but I think they can be safe under these circumstances. The safe bet is definitely to nod and smile, but that does get old, and you can actually have some good conversations with attendings and connect on a less superficial level. But sometimes your attending will say something where all you can do is look at them and say, "oh....well.....um......how about them (insert local sporting team)."