First Question: Must you be something before you can have an opinion about it? Examples • Must you be a Christian before you can have an opinion about the Bible? • Must you serve in combat before you can have an opinion about war? • Must you have a homosexual experience before you can have an opinion on gays? • Must you get a gender reassignment before you can have an opinion about the other sex?
I think you need to be a bit clued up about a subject in order to have a valid opinion, otherwise you'd just be talking out your ass. That's not to say that you must be this and must be that but just that you should have some knowledge about it. Question 2...
Yeah, ...alive, breathing and able to speak to make your opinion known. As far as I know, that's it. Newborn babies have opinions, it's just hard to know exactly what they are 'cause they can't speak yet! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Baron Max
Prior knowledge of subject;Clear thought;Balancing the facts; Lack of prejudice. Too many people seem to have opinions based on the opposites of my criteria. Question 2: Why do you think that is?
In today's world, we're all affected by what is going on around us, whether we participate or not. Thus, it's hard to say we really don't know anything about Christian values or war, etc. Besides, we're often required to have an opinion without being thoroughly informed; even experts aren't experts in all fields. I find it strange when someone says that just because someone else was never oppressed as a black person he knows nothing of the issue and should be quiet. To have an opinion, one should definitely be at least somewhat acquainted with the subject, otherwise there's simply nothing to say. As tablariddim said, analysis is also necessary in the making of an opinion. One should also explain how he acquired that opinion, so that what he says can be properly evaluated.
First...can you even have ethic's of an opinion or an opinion of ethics......hmmmm....in my state of being an opinion is a belief or personal feeling, not necessarily substantiated by facts or proof......you can have all the proof someone else may give you but you are still entitled to your convictions or beliefs that there's still knowledge to be learned or the truth is hidden in statistic's.....or personal experience is your guide in trying to persuade others because of your feelings......having our own opinions or convictions keeps us individual...we can't or should all agree on everything....that's why forums are so important...whether your stating facts or opinions...at least you're being true to yourself.....but that's just my opinion.... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! To answer Tiassa musts......you must be alive to have an opinion.....
Ethics of opinion sharing When I read the heading of this thread I thought this was going to be about another angle : the ethics of opinion sharing. I agree with ReighnStorm: if you come home with your new partner and want the opinion of your parents, do you want them to do a thorough background research on him/her and give you an opinion like: well, educational background is rather medium, but there may be potential; there are cases of cancer in his/her family, so you should look for somebody with a healthier background; money-wise things could be better etc. Or do you want them to say: he/she is a nice person, we are happy for you? Another example: the present voting for (sorry, wanted to say against) the European Constitution. How many of the French or Dutch, do you think, have based their opinion on actually reading the constitution? My guess: not more than 30%. Still, their governments accept their opinion, even though it is likely to be biased, not based on research and even though the governments probably don't like it. I think, it is important for one's development as a person to ask opinions of people whom we know to be different from us (different upbringing, different beliefs, different sex, different nationality), because they provide us with a fresh view on things. However, and now I come back to my expectations from this thread, then we should also be able to accept those people's opinions. It doesn't mean sharing them, but just to be able to relate to their views. Do we ask other people's opinions because we want to know more about others, or because we are on a missionary trip?
And to think your 61,i would have thought somone your age could contribute something a little more relavant on the subject in hand, but considering your past history, i.e. Pretend to be ex vet, Constant crass and offensive answers, it comes as no real suprise.
Anyone is entitled to an opinion on any subject no matter how little they know, thi sis the basis for freedom of thought and speech. That said, secondary knowledge or academic knowledge of a subject will never be a substitute for actual experience. We only ever truly 'know' a thing when we have experienced it We can read volumes on a subject and hear second hand hundreds of accounts - we can project an image of what we believe it will be like (but this will often be incorect) but we will still not know it. This would hold true for all things such as love, disease, bereavement, drugs, sex - whatever. This does not however mean that a person with experince's opinion should be automatically held to be correct. This because experience often colours our perception in a overly prejudicial way. - we may have an experince of one thing that biases our opinions of lots of other things that we do not have experience of.
Perhaps your question would be more relevant if you preceded opinion with 'valid'. That is, "Must you be something before you can have a valid opinion on it?" Which is not to say that being something necessarily validates one's opinion, but should 'being something' be a prerequisite in defining or asserting an opinion that can be considered valid? I"ll come back to it...
I really hate to say such a cliche, but "Opinions are alot like assholes, everybody has 'em and they all stink!". According to the dictionary, and opinion is "A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof: “The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion” (Elizabeth Drew). "
Why do you say? Do you think age is directly proportional to relevant contributions to some subject? If so, how do you figure that? Baron Max
Well, on some subjects i would have to say that yes,actually i do, people of age are logically going to have more wisdom i.e. you, therefore will be more knowledgable and therefore able to assess a question and make a more relavant contrabution than someone of my age (17)who has little 'worldly' experience(me), and so therefore it is naturally expected that you are going to come up with a more convincing argument than myself, however to the above question i would have to say that age isnt DIRECTLY proportional, but it is definately a major factor...am i rite? :m:
Well, John, I don't think it works quite that way. Experienced? Yes, but it doesn't necessarily equate to wisdom, whatever that is. I.e., when I was 16-17, I thought I knew it all! But now, at 60, I realize how little I actually KNOW ...oh, sure, I used to think I knew, but...? And worse, regardless of my "opinion", regardless of how dedicated I am to study the issue, someone somewhere has a totally different one. And worse than that even, some of their ideas/thoughts make me question my own!! Old age = wisdom? No, I think old age is when you begin to realize how little you actually DO know. And if you've noticed, most of my posts, if not all, are in the form of questions, not statements. I don't think I know enough about anything to actually make "certain" statements. My "worldly experience" has only shown me that others have opinions that differ from mine ...how can we both be so certain? Hmmm, we can't, so one of us has to be "wrong". Ahh, but could it possibly be me? Yeah, it sure could!!! Scary, huh? ...LOL! Perhaps old age = being wrong so fuckin' many times in life that one becomes leery of making statements of absolute certainty about any-fuckin'-thing. ...LOL! Baron Max
And if nothing else your posts serve as a reminder of the fact that just because one is old doesn't mean that they have learned a damn thing.
Well, not neccesarily. They may have learned enough to know that they don't know it all ....unlike most young people! See? There's a difference. When I was young, I knew it all, too. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Baron Max
