Tuesday, February 23, 2010

IMO

I'm in the middle of having a debate with a friend about opinions.

He thinks that "everyone has an opinion on everything."

Now, I respect him very much, but I argue that that's not true. I think it's an idealistic view on the average level of intelligence of people. A lot of people actually don't have much going on upstairs [or at least much informed, critical thinking] and/or are not opinionated enough to form opinions on even simple things.

And I don't mean that in a rude/condescending way. I think it's okay to not have an opinion on everything.


Any opinions?

6 comments:

A. Drzayich said...

I think it's possible to not have an opinion--I might say it's even common. How can one possibly have an opinion on something one has never given any thought before?
I also think that people would have some sort of opinion on any thing that has been called to their attention, however it's possible to not know what your own opinion is. Does this make any sense at all? I might say, "it doesn't matter to me which movie we watch," and think that means I have no opinion, but really my opinion is "I will watch anything as long as I don't have to talk to you anymore." Only I haven't put it into so many words or even realized that's how I feel. This is not a preference, as the word opinion often suggests, but it still is a judgment that I've formed about the situation.

At least, that's how I feel about the topic right now. Perhaps I will find that I feel differently when I think about it longer.

Rachel said...

I have an opinion on this, but I certainly don't have an opinion on everything!!!

lydiaruth said...

My thoughts are this...even those who aren't very informed and lack skills in critical thinking can still have an opinion. I frequently feel like I am not informed enough, and that I have less of an interest in critical thinking than I'd like to; but I still have an opinion about things. Sometimes it's not much of an opinion, but it still exists.

monica said...

agreed. i just mentioned this in a way to someone the other day. we were talking about scarlett johansson and how she doesn't like her and i mentioned how i have never had an opinion of her good nor bad. until now, i love her album with Pete Yorn. now i have an opinion of her.

kaitlin said...

definitely agree with you on that. i think sometimes i don't know alot about certain topics(hate to say that most of the time political things are what comes to mind)so how can i have an opinion on that?!

Lifeless Lessons said...

I don't think opinions are just merely ideas. I think they are formed by how you are raised. For instance, you may know nothing about a certain political topic, but as soon as you find out about the topic, you're opinion may already be formed based upon upbringings and influences. While I have no interest in floral arraingements, I still believe sunflowers make everything beautiful