Opinions are Dangerous
I had fun with the first blog, but let's get serious.
Know why they refer to opinions as “naked?” They are parts of meaningful statements, stripped of clarification, conditionality, context and tone.
I was playful last week in introducing the topic. Now I want to be more serious. But first, let me say I don’t entirely understand why I am living in such an environment, as if I had disturbed a wasps nest. Is it that people are living in the midst of so much uncertainty that they hold onto fake life preservers even when aboard ship?
Whatever the reason, the consequences are clear. In a world of opinions we have no way to initiate dialog or continue debate. Opinions are not a tool of agreement or a way to discover common ground. They are a mark of authoritarian rule and a closed mind.
And yet we seem to swallow them like candy. Cable news and social media rattle them off. They have almost no legal consequence, because all should have known they are merely, well, “opinions.”
And in such times as these when sound bites are critical for political success and our channels of messaging seem crafted for such “yelps,” they flood the world of political speech.
American political discourse was once known for subtlety, for critical humor, for serious exploration of ideas. We have a language at our disposal. It is called “English.” It is rich in irony, subtly, caution and degrees of disbelief.
The winding path toward compromise and common ground becomes possible as we finetune our speech. We do “hard listening,” when statements are nuanced. Qualified assertions demand our serious attention, as it is the qualifications that allow us space to find agreement.
“Truth” is abstract and it is practical. It is a narrow frame of conditional agreement. We agree to try this new approach, not out of certainty, but because it may in certain contexts be better than another. Or at least worth a try. By the careful use of language alone it often seems, we lift ourselves by our own bootstraps and find common ground.
Opinions, forcibly expressed, are combat. And the war of words, without the calming influence, the friendly gesture of qualification, is a field of injury and stalemate.
If your goal is to “get nowhere,” but maintain a “manly” profile, play the games of opinion. At your own risk, and ours.
John writes: “Opinions are not a tool of agreement or a way to discover common ground. They are a mark of authoritarian rule and a closed mind.”
Facts would be tools of agreement. At present, people seem to have opinions about the truth of facts. “Opinions”, John adds, “forcibly expressed, are combat.” It is widely stated that the 2020 election was stolen. There is no evidence for that and so it is clearly not a fact. Is it even an opinion? What is an opinion? Something one says or thinks based on feelings? “I want Donald Trump to have won the election, therefore it must have been stolen from him?”
The difficulty in discovering common ground, it seems to me, is getting people to set aside feelings and look at facts.
Opinions do matter when they're based on facts. We can develop our opinion when based on facts but that often isn't what happens. It's too easy for anyone to turn on the boob tube and get marching orders for what our opinions are supposed to be. We don't need no stinkin' facts, just our favorite pundits.
My co-worker (I can't call him a white christian nationalist because that might hurt his feelings) says there are things I can't say ... I think it's because I'm in the wrong tribe. So, once I said that Navarro was wrong about GDP and effects found by changes in imports as it relates to GDP formula. "You think you know more than anyone else!" No, actually, I know something about math and economics.
I think topics aren't personal, but I'm told my opinions are only personal (a tribal thing). One day, I was fed up with the nonsense and said I was exhausted by people who never read a book about economics telling me that "I can't say that." Well, guess what, yes I can. I can look at facts and draw conclusions. My conclusion is an opinion but I'm ok that it's up for discussion if you know something about what's being discussed. But if you think your religion and favorite tv show tell you that the minimum wage is unjust, tells you not to love the stranger as ourselves, and that we are not our brother's keeper, and any other batshit crazy thing, then your opinion is no more than an opinion based on ignorance.