There seems to be quite a lot of magical thinking in the way some people read stuff, by which I mean that they will always interpret it in a way that suits their biases. I wonder if I'm guilty of that, too.

This is related (but not the same, I believe) as what happens when we argue with someone and we try to extract the parts of their argument that may give force to our own response to it. If you think about it, this selective ‘argumenteering’ is ultimately what causes the effect described by Godwin's Law.