Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
-Marcus Aurelius
Everyone has an opinion, and everyone wants to express their thoughts. Opinions are well appreciated when they create a positive impact, are nondestructive to society, and importantly, do not deceive. The real trouble knocks on the door when we mess with negative opinions.
These questions have been raging in my mind for a while now. So, bear with me while I figure out the answer to these questions, down here in this article. Also, no stupid questions, meaning no question qualifies to be stupid. So, I believe none of my questions are stupid. It’s again an opinion. Oh boy! Am I just stuck in an infinite loop of opinions and perspectives?
Let’s jump to the basics: Are opinions merely a fruit of perspectives? For instance, say, there’s a car; you and I are looking at it; assume that I’m a color-blind person. You claim the car to be red in color while I insist it’s green in color. Both of us are not wrong in our claims.[9] In this scenario, your brain is just processing the signal received from our optical senses based on certain predefined knowledge about colors, shape, etc. Thus, this is a piece of information and clearly not an opinion. I definitely wouldn’t agree with your claim, but that doesn’t imply you were wrong. So, we are not always looking at the complete reality. We are just seeing one angle of the reality as supported by our capacities and cognitive abilities; one angle of the truth is still the truth, but not the entire truth. Most of our reality is subjective, dependent on our perspectives. We make the mistake of thinking that the way we experience the world is the way this world actually is. [1]
Now how do we blend opinions in this picture? According to Oxford, an opinion is a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on facts or knowledge. (In my opinion, that’s a smart definition)
Our opinions are rooted in how we think the world should work, our principles, morals, and values. //source_credits
Let’s consider the best-case scenario: my opinions of that car are based on facts. Even in this case, my opinions are carved out of my perspective i.e., it is based on the truth but not the complete truth; opinions that aren’t backed by the complete reality of the situation unfolding.
Hands down, that’s our maximum capability.
Yes, you may beg to differ, by arguing that one can learn other perspectives and then frame a more holistic view (or opinion) based on these multiple perspectives. Sure.
But we, as a society are lacking some qualities, that refrain us from forming such holistic opinions. Listening and humility being the basics. Firstly, lack of patience to listen to what the other person has to say refrains us from learning another perspective, from inching a little closer to reality & broadening our opinion to synchronize with the different hatchets of reality. Second, confirmation bias – we hold on to a belief doggedly in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence[4]. Simply put, weak opinions, strongly held.
On a lighter note, we seem to have opinions about everything and that’s only human. While having opinions itself is not harmful, it does become harmful when we are extremely opinionated and vocal about those opinions, are we creating chaos in society?
Back to basics: definition of ‘opinionated‘ – characterized by conceited assertiveness and dogmatism; unduly adhering to one’s own opinion or to preconceived notions (basically, the confirmation bias that we discussed above)
As liberals, we do have the right to freedom, expression, and speech. On the other hand, we also have the responsibility to listen and be humble. We wield the powers coming with the rights while ignoring our responsibilities.
What are we doing?
We are deceiving others.
If I am an opinionated know-it-all pontificating to a naïve person who doesn’t have a take on the topic in discussion, I might tout stats and research to establish myself as an expert in a field I’ve little to no knowledge; I might as well judge you for your lack of opinions, knowledge, etc.[3] You might never be able to understand if these are my takes in itself or somebody else’s opinion or worse if it’s even factually sound. Further, the listener might go ahead and deceive another set of people, purely out of insecurity for not having known this. Collectively, everybody is being deceived. By doing that, aren’t we losing something? Yes, a major chunk of society is missing out on the truth. This is what is happening with social media, as well, these days. I’ll come back to that point in a while.
“I do have a reasoning behind all my opinions”, you say. “Isn’t that enough justification to have an opinion?” But you can have reasoning for an uninformed opinion as well. For ages, researchers assumed reasoning has existed to let people reach beyond mere perceptions and set out in search for truth.[4] Now, are we really evolving in this respect? Are we seeking the complete truth? On the contrary, many times, we are unwilling to frame opinions that are backed even by our perception of the reality, which as we’ve already established, is incomplete, by itself.
So, how are we reasoning to arrive at our opinions? Proper reasoning should resolve all our conflicts because everyone is seeking the truth according to the above lines. Is it that simple? Hang tight and please anticipate some disappointment.
As favorable as it might sound, it actually, is not. According to research arguments in The Journal of Behavioral and Brain Sciences,
“Reasoning doesn’t have this function of helping us get better beliefs and make better decisions. It was a purely social phenomenon. It evolved to help us convince others and to be careful when others try to convince us. The reasoning is something that develops from experience; it’s a subset of what we really know.” [4]
By providing reasoning, aren’t we reducing the spectrum of perceiving reality even more?
I’m letting that sink in.
Another instance where reasoning comes into play would be to reason another person’s opinion. Considering we do listen to others’ opinions, are we justly reasoning their opinions? Research says, while reasoning the opinions of others, we do a better job at accepting sound arguments which are only to our advantage similar to how we consider their weak points as our points of gain; also, did we really want to listen to their take in the first place? [4]
We don’t want to listen, and we don’t want to change our minds. People who don’t change their minds, don’t move forward. [4]
Are opinions bad? Should we ask people to stop having opinions? Or should we ask people to stop being opinionated? Or do both choices appear to be a mere blame game? Maybe should we consider diving in to understand the different ways of perceiving others’ opinions?
Now in the pretext of opinions are we also complaining a lot? Have opinions become synonymous with complaints? Right now, I’m letting you read my take on opinions along with the views of other people. I definitely sound like I’m complaining and raging here about how bad we are. Instead, we should be doing something about it, shouldn’t we?
With the proliferation of social media, everybody can and hence, want to articulate their opinions. We start taking sides, partially out of FOMO and partially based on whatever matches our preconceived notions or ideologies. Simply put, we tend to take sides with opinions when they agree with our own. And that’s precisely confirmation bias.
By taking sides, we create a separation in the society, an unhealthy one at that, wherein, we consider the opinions that are in congruence with our own opinions to be informed while the rest to be uninformed. Making it all the more chaotic, aren’t we?
Hang on, are we being forced to have opinions?
We are itching to have a “hot take” on a headline, for the most part, not out of genuine concern or to set things right. Social media is provoking us to enact a series of predefined reactions. We are reacting. Reactions function as markers of self-perceived progressiveness. According to Shane Parrish, “The world never tells you that you’re wrong; it only gives you outcomes.” If only we could possibly channel this outrage properly to extract outcomes that aid in genuine activism and positive social change, instead of raging on Twitter. Your take on Twitter doesn’t change hearts; it is perpetuating negativity. Anger must be treated as a means to an end instead of the end itself. [2]
But there’s a silver lining in voicing our opinions & ranting.
In the past times, the feelings of fuming rage and fury would fester and eventually manifest in the form of violence. Now the social media spaces and the freedom of expression have significantly brought the rage and urge for violence down.
Besides, we are accommodating everybody’s opinion in this world. Everybody has an opinion, and every opinion is equally important in society as long as we hold ourselves true to the responsibilities that I mentioned earlier – listening & humility.
Opinions and advice are appreciated when they are not unsolicited. Don’t shove your opinions onto others.
Eric Cloward, in his podcast called the 'Stoic Coffee Break' says, "The point of Stoic rationality and the basis for the scientific method states, “This is the best opinion, based upon the information that I have. I could be proved wrong at any moment, so I should be willing to be open to changing my mind. Or the most succinct way I’ve heard this put is, 'Strong opinions, loosely held'." [1]
– Harini ♠️
References:
- Stoic Coffee Break podcast & the show notes
- Art of not having an opinion by Philip Ellis
- The Art of having an informed opinion
- Reasoning: a weapon for argument
- Understanding others’ opinions on opinionated people (Source: Quora)
- Being opinionated vs being educated
- Are we complaining?
- Opinionated people
- Perspectives vs Opinions
Thanks to Krishnaveni and Raghul for proofreading and reviewing drafts of this.
All views expressed by the author are personal.
Any feedback and criticism are more than welcome. Find me on LinkedIn or Instagram.
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