So, I have decided to grace you all with a post.
What is an "informed opinion"? I didn't want to do the usual technique of researching the phrase in a dictionary. This time, I am gonna ad lib it. So here goes. I feel that an informed opinion is one made after you have heard both sides of the story. But wait, there's more. Beyond just hearing both sides of the story, to make an informed opinion, I feel that the opiner should be able to argue both sides of the issue. If you can only argue the one side of the issue you may not be as informed as you thought, and more to the point, you may not have actually processed the information that you "heard".
Too many times have I read online people argue over an issue, and they are so wrapped up in their own side, there is NO way they will EVER be able to see the other side of the issue. Their opinions are not informed. Neither of them has ever considered where the other side is coming from. And sadly, it seems that all too many people today are like this. All too many people make up their minds on little or no information, and that's it - there's no changing their minds, regardless of how compelling the information or how credible the source. They have never tried to get into the mind of their opponent and really try to understand his/her side of the story, and they never will.
Don't be one of those guys.
*As a footnote, trying to understand where the other guy's coming from and trying to be able to play devil's advocate can lead you to opine that the other side is completely defenseless and absurd. And that's alright too. You made the effort, you played devil's advocate and came to an informed decision. Bravo, I say.
** As a further side note, probably everyone knows that I cannot stand, cannot stand, people who are uninformed opiners. I feel, if you cannot change your mind, if the possibility of changing your mind does not exist in your head, if you cannot ever see the other side of the story, there is no point in having a discussion with you. You are not worth the time and effort. So please, please don't be like this, so I have people to debate and argue with.
*** I'm not saying that any of you are like this. In fact, all of the regular readers of this blog are not like this. It's the rest of the world that is like this, and that inspired my quasi-rant...
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2 comments:
We have a friend out here to get his panties in a wad over the 'other side' of the issue and refuses to understand where they are coming from all the time. I think if you can't see their side at all then you don't have an oppinion, you have what you consider an absolute truth.
Its one thing to think that the other side is wrong, it is another to refuse to understand why they feel the way that they do.
I'm replacing my entire rant with,
"Silly Andy, nobody wants to _understand_ where the other side is coming from. It's enough just to know that they're wrong. Besides, we all know what happened to Darth Vader when he got all sympathetic to the 'other side'."
If we check out the other side, the terrorists win.
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