Hey everybody, I was just wondering if anyone has as hard of a time forming an opinion as me. I have my ideas of what is right and wrong, and I am completely capable of standing by those ideals. But when it comes to completely detailed and complex situations, I can't seem to find a perspective I can 100% attach to. They all seem flawed. It just seems that when you apply personal social justifications to current events, there are too many speculations to have a well-formed opinion. I do not want this to be about the George Zimmerman case, so please don't let it lead to that. But I'd like this to be a conversation about opinion-forming in general. When should an open-mind close? That seems to be my current problem. Thanks for everyone's input, Buuud
thats a good example of not being biased. Most of the time (for me at least) I am never 100% on something, i usually just outweight the good and bad in a given situation.
I don't exactly have a hard time knowing what I think about info I'm given, but I do have a really hard time picking sides or committing to a doctrine/ideology.
Thanks for the responses (love The Front Bottoms by the way - tokoum) and I'm glad I'm not alone when it comes to having to take a proper stand on current events. Could you explain a little bit more Tokoum? And Souredee, could you explain what aspects of good and bad help weigh out a situation? Because once again, these seem to be very relative terms.
That's the thing: when it seems like I have a fully well-informed opinion, I will analyze and analyze and analyze until I can form one that completely contradicts what I originally thought. It's a vicious cycle haha. I want to know what makes people feel confident enough to get out and voice what they believe. So far, the only thing I feel confident enough to support are things that relate to basic human rights. I work at a homeless shelter, I support fair trade to Africa, and I want equal race relations (these were not named to give me any self-serving credentials towards this thread). But when it comes to obscure social activities, I can't chose a side.
I hate it when people tell me that I am wrong for my opinion. The only other alternative is to become a sheeple and hate myself for it. Buuud i love your sig!
I honestly don't know. Its just like, my opinion? I wish I could help you, but I have no clue. That's just me, its what fits best for me, may be right, may be wrong, but its what I believe.
You don't need to have strong, one-sided opinions. In fact, I think that's a bit absurd in most cases. I try to see my "opinions" as impermanent, simply because it's impossible for me to know everything about everything. My current opinions are based on my current knowledge/experience, yet the latter two things change on a daily basis.
Dude I'm so proud of TFB; they're getting so much recognition these days. Seems like the main thing you're talking about here is taking sides, so I'll try and focus on that. I'm gonna leave real politics out cause I'm not a big proponent of the gov't, and I don't want this to become about that, so excuse the shitty example. Say someone asks me to say whether smoking or vaping is superior. Now, I know that for me, vaping is better; it keeps me feeling healthy and energetic, it's tasty, it's fun, and it doesn't bother anyone. However, sometimes I just want to smoke a blunt in the pool on a special occasion (funeral, federal holiday, apocalypse, whatever). I am confident that I prefer to vaporize, but I'm not about to totally commit to that or verbalize it, because nothin's set in stone or whatever. I'm not going to go against smoking just because I like to vape. Writing that out, it seems kind of ridiculous. Now I think I have commitment issues.
I don't know, kind of sounds like the right process putting through different options and finding contradictions in original thoughts...You're of the opinion that most opinions are silly. I support your opinion.
I've never had a problem forming opinions -- very rigid opinions usually. However, as I've gotten older, I have found that my formerly black-and-white world is mostly full of shades of gray. I think this is pretty common as people age. So don't worry about forming opinions because they're gonna change anyway. “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.†-- Muhammad Ali
Alright, here is my opinion. First off, your opinion is only so good as the information that you built it on. If your information is bad, your opinion is likely to be bad. For me that's the huge struggle, but my uncertainty keeps me out of arguments that I'd really rather avoid anyway, so it works out. The other thing is that when you're dealing with things like the debate about how to fix the economy, there are several models people bring up, but what gets me as someone who makes models kind of like the ones people use for economic forecasting, is that these people view their models as the absolute truth, rather than a model that is only correct under certain conditions. I think in the end it applies to everything, not just the math-related issues. Humans will naturally recognize patterns and form these little models so they can spend less time thinking about things. Unfortunately, people don't realize that their models are only correct under certain conditions and that leads to problems like racism. Really, being uncertain is a good thing; it means you're less likely to be affected by the cognitive dissonance shaddy was talking about. It means your mind is flexible and you're less likely to be taken in by the bullshit. It's only a problem when you're pretty sure people are being idiots but you can't quite prove it.
that's a good thing. the only way to keep advancing as a society is by constantly examining our beliefs and changing our viewpoints where needed to help move forward.
I think it is good that you don't agree with one side 100%. In a lot of cases I am the same way. It allows you to see both sides without bias.
Thanks for the replies everyone. You all have made me feel a lot better. It seems like there is a lot of cognitive dissonance in today's society. Finding a balance to keep from being spineless seems to be as much of a challenge for me, as finding a balance to keep from being closed minded is for others.