There are some fundamental--i.e., "essential"--differences between conceptual change theory and a rigorously applied discourse approach to the question of what and how people know. In this rejoinder, I suggest that the differences are paradigmatic because, among others, the units of analysis used and the data constructed are irreconcilably different. I now have abandoned my hopes for a collaborative extension of the two approaches, which I articulated not so long ago. I conclude that as alternative paradigms, conceptual change and discursive approaches will co-exist until one of them dies with its proponents.