WHAT IS AN OPINION

What is an opinion?

Wikipedia (yes, I know; totally reliable) defines an opinion as:

a subjective belief, that is the result of emotion or interpretation of facts.  An opinion may be supported by an argument, although people may draw opposing opinions from the same set of facts.  Opinions rarely change without new arguments being presented.  However, it can be reasoned that one opinion is better supported by the facts than another by analyzing the supporting arguments.  In casual use, the term opinion may be the result of a person's perspective, understanding, particular feelings, beliefs, and desires.  

This is a fairly clear explanation of an opinion, but it doesn’t seem to answer one fundamental thing; is an opinion wrong or right?

Can it be wrong or right, or is it just a thought process?

Is it open to judgement or condemnation? Is it open to support and praise?

Or is it simply an interpretation of facts, based on a person’s perspective, understanding, feelings, beliefs and desires, as the all wise Wikipedia suggests.

Is someone wrong for expressing their opinion?  Are we right to judge them for it, or is that just part of the opinion debate process?  OR, is judgement of an opinion just another opinion and not judgement at all?

Confused yet? I am.  What’s your opinion?

:D

What I do know about opinions is that they should only be expressed in the right forums at the right time.  Debate is healthy, but not when it’s inappropriate, I suppose.

I remember, years ago, I was working with a group of ladies, and one lady was expressing her opinion, quite freely, as she so often did.   She was one of these women that banged on and on about something in a very loud and aggressive way. I remember her actually saying ‘I have a right to an opinion, you know?  Why doesn’t anyone listen to me?’

I said to her ‘Because not only do you RAM your opinions down people’s throats, but your opinion would have been more useful when we were making decisions; not after the fact.’

This lady wasn’t doing anything wrong; she was engaging her right to free speech, and expressing her opinion.  However, she had really missed her opportunity to provide an appropriate, constructive opinion when we needed it, and she had carried on for so long, that her message was lost, and we were well and truly over it.

So, is it about free speech?  The one thing that we are all entitled to?  Or do we just hide our true feelings behind opinion based free speech?

Do we, in expressing our freedom to speak, forget to listen?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I think.  There is no right or wrong, but you can be made feel wrong about your opinion, I believe.  That’s usually because another person makes you question yourself, and your thought processes.  Then again, nobody makes you do or feel anything.  We can only feel wrong about something, if an argument or point of view encourages us stop and think…

People are allowed to disagree with you.  That’s their right to freely express.  However, I feel it’s deconstructive to become insulting.  Some people will defame you, pigeon-hole you, call you un-Australian, or something like that, because your opinion is different to theirs.  I don’t necessarily think that’s fair. 

However… is it unfair, or is it just people expressing their own opinions in a way different to yours?  They are entitled to express what they feel, after all.

You can see us dancing around this subject to no end, hey? 

Everyone has a different thought process.  It doesn’t make them wrong or deserving of defamation.  However, I think people do get stuck in their own thought process, and become inflexible.  This is where we forget to listen.  Sometimes, it’s good to listen to other people’s opinions.  You never know; they could open your mind.

As the definition says, you can determine different points of view based on the same set of facts.  Maybe that’s what makes us all unique? Our ability to interpret things differently.

So, back to my original questions: what is an opinion, and is an opinion right or wrong?

I think an opinion is the right to express oneself freely and without condemnation, and there is no right or wrong.  There just is.

Maybe instead of voicing our opinions all the time, we should stop…. and listen.

Peace out.