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I use a filter...40% Voted for by NeferMaatNetjer, The Blind Bandit.
I use a filter I have in my mind. It is called logic. It keeps the large opinions-those based on reason and intellect, the ones worth considering-, while allowing the little ones -those based purely on emotion and misinformed ranting- to pass though my mental colon and be expelled with the word "bullshit". This safety feature allows me to examine the relevant opinions, and decide for myself which ones make the most sense, and not let my own opinions get weighed down with "bullshit" opinions. of course, it happens that a "bullshit" opinion comes on so large it looks relevant, which is why i keep a hose handy. the hose is called truth. I spray truth on the opinions and if they stand up under it, they are valid, and if they wash away into nothing, they are "bullshit". this system works to ensure that my own opinions don't get crushed by all the "bullshit" out there.
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alot.40% Voted for by Neros Decay, Spheres of Wisdom.
if you belive completely in your opinion and back it up as how your view the world then your opinion can tolerate any amount of your peers opinions. in everyone good debator's minds they know they are the only ones right all the while listening and analyizing the oppositions opinions. personally i can go a lifetime of having my opinions ridiculed by others and have the satisfaction of knowing that i am right, even if im not.
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As many as neccesary.Voted for by looking4realtruth.
You are the only one who can make your opinion come crashing down. Just be sure to pick the right opinion to be backing up. You must believe it.
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February 26, 2006
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Ladyfyre
February 6, 2007
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Logic, eh? Intriguing.....
You might also, then, like the following--however, I would suggest you read it quickly, as we are certain to be soon-hanged, you and I....via Ad Populum referrendum.-------------------------------------
Opinion Down The Rabbit-Hole
by Cindy S. Roshon, February 3, 2007
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Opinion in modern American society seems to have lost its credibility. We see this evidenced by such phrases as "That's just your opinion," "Yes, but we all know what opinions are worth," and the banal "Opinions are like _______'s; everbody has one."
If the common man dares consider his opinion important, we consider him arrogant. What gives him the right? we ask.
To label a man "opinionated" casts suspicion upon his utterances and nearly discredits him before he has ever spoken a word.
We even apologize for our own opinions, beginning sentences with phrases such as, "Well, this is just my opinion..." and "In my humble opinion..."
Though we are more likely to listen to the opinion of someone we respect, such as a parent, boss, professional expert, close friend, or mentor, opinion in general has been relegated to the dust bin of the irrelevant.
When we say, "I have no opinion" regarding a specific subject, don't most of us actually mean, "I don't care?" Then why not just say it that way? We don't say it that way possibly because--even though it is the way we feel--we are loathe to receive a negative response, that flashing neon sign that points to the top of your head and reads "IGNORANT!!!" (which I believe has its roots in the direct opposition of "I'm okay, you're okay" fragmenting individualism to the reality of what we KNOW about ourselves. But, that's for another article...). How odd our considerations quickly become--after all, can't we simply dismiss his view of our ignorance as "just" his opinion, and therefore unimportant?
Opinions, however, are *not* unimportant. Consider:
1. Opinion forms the basis for debate;
2. Debate is won by logical argument [Meriam-Webster defines "logic" as "a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration." In other words, for a statement (which is only opinion at first utterance) to be considered "true" by PRINCIPLE definition, (i.e., to be INFERRED VALID), it must meet only a single CRITERIA: It must be DEMONSTRABLE.];
3. Logical (demonstrable) argument finds its strength in the persuasion of COMMON EXPERIENCE [Informal fallacies of logic, such as 'Ad Populum' ("the appeal to the masses" for agreement, that agreement producing, by its own virtue, validity], are mistakes of content, and are not in view here];
4. Common experience, then becomes the basis for commonly-accepted definition; and,
5. Commonly-accepted definition (i.e., that definition which is the "measuring rod," the "standard," the MOST-COMMON experience) is the very basis for COMMUNICATION !!
If opinion, which, not incidentally, is the conceptual fabric of theory, becomes invalid, then, by extension, hypothesis and experimentation, which are the very actions that will produce the experience allowing us to conclude that a theory is now fact, become irrelevant. By this postulation, IF OPINION IS INVALID, THEN FACTUALITY (TRUTH) IS IRRELEVANT.
Not earth shattering? It should be. If truth is irrelevant, then accurate communication, for which commonly-accepted definition is the basis, is no longer possible; and, accurate communication (which, remember, is only defined as "accurate" because it is the common experience) is the single criteria which must be present for the existence of a cohesive society.
"What," asked the Caterpillar, "if you woke up in Portland tomorrow morning, and everyone spoke a different language, and was unable to conceive of any common experience?"
"Why," quipped Alice brightly, as she stepped into the crosswalk at 4th and Washington, "We would call it Individuality!"
Unfortunately, Alice, who very individually defined "green" as "red", at that very moment had her individuality intersected by an equally-individual Tri-Met driver who defined "stop" as "go."
American society lauds individuality that “goes against the current,” which is fine as long as we keep it in perspective. In perspective, individuality is one of the things that brings about societal progression of a positive nature; but when an entire society sees individuality as an end, rather than a *means* to an end, that society becomes like a mirror broken into a thousand fragments. Oh, each is definitely individual, but they are so individual that the whole unit has become “broken”––the whole is no longer useful at all, and no single fragment is of any size to be effective, either.
I believe we call that “GARBAGE.”
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