I write opinions because I like to and because it’s a challenge for me to take the thoughts in my brain and put them on paper (so to speak) in an ordered, reasonable fashion. If the end result is a coherent argument I’ve succeeded – if not, I’ve failed. What I mean to say here is that I write opinions not because of a burning desire to let all three of you who read my blog know what I think about stuff, but because it’s a good way to work on skills that I think are valuable. The debate that hopefully follows is an added bonus.
I was commiserating with a friend (one of the aforementioned three readers) the other day about how we often offend friends by turning everything into an argument. We like debate for the sake of debate, and find it hard to understand why everyone isn’t just like us. I can see how annoying we must be to other people, but I have the hardest time letting someone’s opinion just hang out in the air without asking, “Why do you think that?” Especially if it seems ungrounded to me. (Side note: be flattered if I ask you to defend yourself. It means I think I can learn from you.)
From what I’m told, debate was a skill that used to be valued. I wonder how long ago I wouldn’t have had to risk eye rolls for expecting someone to have reasons why they believed something.
It seems like opinions are too easy to come by these days. I’m allowed to pick one up and call it my own because the New York Times prints it, or because my friends say it. As an example (just an example, I’m not getting political here), everyone I met in Europe preferred Barack Obama for president and went out of their way to tell me so, but I only met one person who, when questioned, could tell me why. Their culture allowed them to have a shallow opinion.
I call this “opinion inflation,” and I think it’s ruining our ability to think for ourselves. Never having to answer the question “why?” means I’m free to think or say anything, without having to take the initiative to examine evidence for myself. It means I can pretty much expect not to be challenged.
Opinion inflation is but a symptom of the larger disease: a fear of conflict, even the healthy kind. But that is another discussion for another day. For now, be confident enough to not accept everything you hear. Be willing to say, “I don’t know” when you don’t know. Ask why and expect to be asked why in return. We’ll all be better off for it.
3 comments:
I wonder if it is not so much that people do not have reasons, but that people do not know how to express them. Additionally, how do we address the ‘gut feeling’ and natural intuition? I fear that if we expect everything to be based on reason alone, we will end up like Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. The intangibles should count for something; how much they should count for is an entirely different matter.
Intuition is valid. When I say "examine evidence" I'm referring to intangible evidence (intuition, emotion) as well as the tangible sort.
I expect people to have opinions for a reason -- that reason can be anything from a gut feeling to scientific data.
This was very thought provoking. I wonder which ideas or views I have that I don't really have any foundation in.
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