No, its not just your opinion. You're wrong.

I spend far more time arguing on the Internet than can possibly be healthy, and the word I’ve come to loath more than any other is “opinion”. Opinion, or worse “belief”, has become the shield of every poorly-conceived notion that worms its way onto social media.

There’s a common conception that an opinion cannot be wrong. My dad said it. Hell, everyone’s dad probably said it and in the strictest terms it is true. However, before you crouch behind your Shield of Opinion you need to ask yourself a two questions.

1. Is this actually an opinion?
2. If it is an opinion how informed is it and why do I hold it?

I’ll help you with the first part. An opinion is a preference for or judgment of something. My favorite color is black. I think mint tastes awful. Doctor Who is the best television show. These are all opinions. They may be unique to me alone or massively shared across the general population but they all have one thing in common; they cannot be verified outside the fact that I believe them.

There’s nothing wrong with an opinion on those things. The problem comes from people whose opinions are actually misconceptions. If you think vaccines cause autism you are expressingsomething factually wrong, not an opinion. The fact that you may still believe that vaccines cause autism does not move your misconception into the realm of valid opinion. Nor does the fact that many other share this opinion give it any more validity.
To quote John Oliver, who referenced a Gallup poll showing one in four Americans believe climate change isn’t real on his show, Last Week Tonight…

Who gives a *****? You don’t need people’s opinion on a fact. You might as well have a poll asking: “Which number is bigger, 15 or 5?” or “Do owls exist?” or “Are there hats?”

You saw this same thing recently when questions about the Confederate flag started making the rounds. It may be your opinion that slavery was not the driving cause of the Civil War, but the Texas Articles of Secession mention slavery 21 times (rights are mentioned only six, and only once in a sentence that doesn’t mention either slavery or how way more flippin’ awesome white people are than black people). Do I even need to point out that some people are also of the opinion the Holocaust was fake, and that their opinion means absolutely nothing to the reality?

Pictured: A bunch of people who were murdered regardless of someone's opinion on the subject
The Auschwitz Album


And yes, sometimes scientific or historical data is wrong or unclear or in need of further examination. Everyone knows water expands when it freezes. Do you know why it does that when literally nothing else in the world does? Nope, andneither does science. Or hey, here’s a question; what was the racial heritage of the Ancient Egyptians because historianscan’t come to a consensus and their art is too stylized to accurately judge.

Subjects like that are the sort of things that are ripe for an opinion. Water expands when it freezes because of the shape of the molecule. The Egyptians were a displaced black African race that settled the Nile. Here, opinion can be a placeholder for a greater understanding assuming there ever is a greater understanding. There is no verification; it can only be guessed at. Hopefully in an educated manner.

That’s where the second question comes in; is your opinion informed and why do you believe it? Though technically these opinions cannot be wrong they can be lacking in worth simply because they are lacking in structure.

Here’s an example. Let’s say I meet a fellow Doctor Who fan, and this fan’s favorite Doctor is David Tennant. Nothing wrong so far. However, upon further discussing the subject this fan tells me that he or she has never seen any of the pre-2005 episodes or heard any of the radio plays. Now, it’s possible that even if he or she had David Tennant would still be his or her favorite Doctor, but it’s also possible that it would be Tom Baker or Paul McGann or someone else.


In a perfect world someone confronted with this would simply say, “Well, David Tennant is my favorite that I’ve seen.” There’s plenty of reasons to not have seen any older Doctor Who. It’s not all on Netflix, there’s a lot of it, radio plays can get rather expensive, etc. Having a narrow opinion from a narrow set of information is only natural.

What mucks it all up when a narrow set of information is assumed to be wider than it is. There is a difference between a belief and things you just didn’t know. It’s easy to believe, for instance, that whites face as much discrimination as people of color, but only if you are completely ignorant of the unemployment rates of blacks versus whites, the fact that of the Fortune 500 CEOs only five are black, or the fact that of the 43 men who have been president 42.5 of them have been white.

In other words, you can form an opinion in a bubble, and for the first couple of decades of our lives we all do. However, eventually you are going to venture out into the world and find that what you thought was an informed opinion was actually just a tiny thought based on little data and your feelings. Many, many, many of your opinions will turn out to be uninformed or just flat out wrong. No, the fact that you believed it doesn’t make it any more valid or worthwhile, and nobody owes your viewpoint any respect simply because it is yours.

You can be wrong or ignorant. It will happen. Reality does not care about your feelings. Education does not exist to persecute you. The misinformed are not an ethnic minority being oppressed. What’s that? Planned Parenthood is chopping up dead babies and selling them for phat cash? No, that’s not what actually happened. No, it’s not your opinion. You’re just wrong.

This should be shouted from rooftops. It should be required reading for all of us posting on social media.

http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/no-it-s-not-your-opinion-you-re-just-wrong-7611752

Indeed... indeed...

Well, in your opinion, anyway.

a concise summation: opinions should be based on facts, and not a substitute for them.

Recent studies have shown that once we establish a belief/opinion based on emotion, we will not abandon it, even when confronted with overwhelming factual evidence.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128490874

http://www.gqrr.com/articles/2014/07/31/why-changing-opinions-is-hard-and-what-can-be-done

EBennett said:
Recent studies have shown that once we establish a belief/opinion based on emotion, we will not abandon it, even when confronted with overwhelming factual evidence.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128490874
http://www.gqrr.com/articles/2014/07/31/why-changing-opinions-is-hard-and-what-can-be-done

MOL proves this abundantly, every day.

Isn't that somewhat related to Stephen Colbert's "truthiness". Which I believe refers to the idea that something is true because we believe (emotionally) it to be true. I think it is somewhat human nature. Then it helps if we have been trained to stay open to new ideas, but that takes a certain kind of self confidence and ego strength.

Or a good education...

I like how people have begun speaking of truth as if it was adjustable to individuals; e.g., "My truth," "Her truth..." Isn't truth truth? "Truth" has edged dangerously close to opinion. IMO.

PeggyC I have the same thought about reality.

True!

I blame Fox News for the widespread separation of the notion that one's opinions about the issues facing us as a country should be based on facts. They began many years ago to destroy the idea that news should be based on fact, that editorial opinion should be discrete from reporting, and to elevate "opinion" to the level of fact. I think this has led directly to the refusal of various individuals to adhere to laws or do their jobs in the name of protecting their own "religious freedom," the tendency to see legislation someone doen't agree with as an affront to their beliefs and the failure to understand that there is a profound difference between really not liking the law and forcing other people to live according to your own beliefs. This is all based on the idea that opinions (see also: 'strongly held beliefs') can or should carry the same weight as facts.

Yes, I'm getting close to the point of giving no weight to religious views when they contradict our laws.

This is as good a place as any to plop down this link:

It may be from Salon.com, but the linked article is the clearest, most concise explanation of why the Republican party has become a party whose members largely leave reason at the door when it comes to politics.

When you read the article, you should finally understand, if you don't already, that much of the political opposition can not be reasoned with. They don't respond to facts. And this is why we're in the mess we're in.

And it basically started with Nixon.

“Voters are basically lazy,” one Nixon media adviser wrote. “Reason
requires a high degree of discipline, of concentration; impression is
easier. Reason pushes the viewer back, it assaults him, it demands that
he agree or disagree; impression can envelop him, invite him in, without
making an intellectual demand…. When we argue with him, we… seek to
engage his intellect…. The emotions are more easily roused, closer to
the surface, more malleable….”

link

Coffeegretchen said:
I blame Fox News for the widespread separation of the notion that one's opinions about the issues facing us as a country should be based on facts. They began many years ago to destroy the idea that news should be based on fact, that editorial opinion should be discrete from reporting, and to elevate "opinion" to the level of fact. I think this has led directly to the refusal of various individuals to adhere to laws or do their jobs in the name of protecting their own "religious freedom," the tendency to see legislation someone doen't agree with as an affront to their beliefs and the failure to understand that there is a profound difference between really not liking the law and forcing other people to live according to your own beliefs. This is all based on the idea that opinions (see also: 'strongly held beliefs') can or should carry the same weight as facts.

Its broader than Fox News. Fox News gets a 2 share on a good day. Maybe when added to talk radio, you start to see an impact.

I blame our uneven education system. And laziness, as drummerboy points out.

Apparently, the reason for Fox dropped to second place in July was due to the Discovery Channel's Shark Week!

This report should come as a shock to many posters who are convinced nobody watches Fox! Probably too timid to admit it! I watch CNN (missing Erin, don't like Wolf); struggle to watch MSNBC (anchors are unhappy and strident); try to watch The Five on Fox which has a good mix - and the Irish duo occasionally (don't care for Smith or Hannity.

FOX NEWS | RATINGS
July 2015 Ratings: Fox News Marks 163 Months At #1

By Mark Joyella on Jul. 29, 2015 - 9:12 AMComment

Fox News Channel marked 163 consecutive months at number one in July, a streak that dates to January 2002. But FNC was the only cable news network to see total day viewership declines. FNC, which still beat CNN and MSNBC combined, was down -4 percent in viewers and down -7 percent in the A25-54 demo.
The ratings for July 2015:
Prime time (Mon-Sun): 1,629,000 Total Viewers / 314,000 A25-54
Total Day (Mon-Sun): 982,000 Total Viewers / 187,000 A25-54
In prime time, FNC was down -9 percent in viewers but up +5 percent in the demo. FNC posted gains with The O’Reilly Factor (+4 percent) and The Kelly File (+15 percent) in the demo compared to July 2014). Megyn Kelly had her second-highest-rated month in the demo since her prime time show launched in October 2013. One of the network’s biggest gains was Shepard Smith Reporting, which grew +26 percent in the demo versus a year ago.
With back-to-back weeks as the number one network in prime time, Fox News reached number two across all of cable for the month.

Who are thesemythical people here who are not aware of Fox's ratings? The thread is not about Fox. It's about people not able to discern between fact and opinion.

Example:

Fact: Fox News has higher ratings that other cable news channels.

Opinion: This means Fox News tells the truth or adds value to political discussions.

But more importantly, it's about people passing their incorrect assertions as opinion rather that being wrong.

"It's my opinion that the Sun revolves around the Moon."

"It's my opinion that the man over there with his head cut off is just being lazy and could get up and walk around if he really wanted to."

drummerboy said:
This is as good a place as any to plop down this link:
It may be from Salon.com, but the linked article is the clearest, most concise explanation of why the Republican party has become a party whose members largely leave reason at the door when it comes to politics.
When you read the article, you should finally understand, if you don't already, that much of the political opposition can not be reasoned with. They don't respond to facts. And this is why we're in the mess we're in.
And it basically started with Nixon.
“Voters are basically lazy,” one Nixon media adviser wrote. “Reason
requires a high degree of discipline, of concentration; impression is
easier. Reason pushes the viewer back, it assaults him, it demands that
he agree or disagree; impression can envelop him, invite him in, without
making an intellectual demand…. When we argue with him, we… seek to
engage his intellect…. The emotions are more easily roused, closer to
the surface, more malleable….”
link

I agree with that completely, but don't believe that it is only true of Republicans. I'm wondering why Democrats appear to be less willfully ignorant. I'll find and read the whole article.

mtierney said:
Apparently, the reason for Fox dropped to second place in July was due to the Discovery Channel's Shark Week! ">
This report should come as a shock to many posters who are convinced nobody watches Fox! Probably too timid to admit it! I watch CNN (missing Erin, don't like Wolf); struggle to watch MSNBC (anchors are unhappy and strident); try to watch The Five on Fox which has a good mix - and the Irish duo occasionally (don't care for Smith or Hannity.
FOX NEWS | RATINGS
July 2015 Ratings: Fox News Marks 163 Months At #1


By Mark Joyella on Jul. 29, 2015 - 9:12 AMComment
Fox News Channel marked 163 consecutive months at number one in July, a streak that dates to January 2002. But FNC was the only cable news network to see total day viewership declines. FNC, which still beat CNN and MSNBC combined, was down -4 percent in viewers and down -7 percent in the A25-54 demo.
The ratings for July 2015:
Prime time (Mon-Sun): 1,629,000 Total Viewers / 314,000 A25-54
Total Day (Mon-Sun): 982,000 Total Viewers / 187,000 A25-54
In prime time, FNC was down -9 percent in viewers but up +5 percent in the demo. FNC posted gains with The O’Reilly Factor (+4 percent) and The Kelly File (+15 percent) in the demo compared to July 2014). Megyn Kelly had her second-highest-rated month in the demo since her prime time show launched in October 2013. One of the network’s biggest gains was Shepard Smith Reporting, which grew +26 percent in the demo versus a year ago.
With back-to-back weeks as the number one network in prime time, Fox News reached number two across all of cable for the month.

To correct the record, when people make comments about how few people watch Fox News, they are usually referring to the fact that few people watch cable news at all. Yes, Fox is #1 among cable news channels, but in the overall scheme of things, the number of people who cable news is quite low (in comparison to the overall # of TV viewers in the U.S.)

1-2 million people watching Fox News during prime time is 1-2 million of about 100 million +. Not that many, overall.

Particle Man - thanks for posting that.

I think one thing to be cautious about is trying to argue that people of a certain political persuasion are smarter, more logical, or more informed. Political opinions nearly always come from deciding which side you belong to, rather than people choosing sides based on their beliefs.

Specifically, in today's political environment, it does seem to be true that in American politics, the policy positions of Democrats appear to be better supported by evidence, but I don't take that to mean that Democrats (and Democratic-leaning independents) are any smarter, logical, or well-informed.

I suspect it has more to do with the makeup of the coalitions that make up each party. The Republican coalition is more homogenous, with a narrower range of viewpoints. For instance, on issues that touch on race, there just aren't that many racial minorities in the Republican coalition, so viewpoints that are ignorant (or even outright hostile) to racial minorities go unchallenged within the coalition.

So if you look at each party as a whole, you see a clear difference on these issues, but if you look at, say only whites within the party, the differences are smaller than you might guess. As a Democrat-leaning independent, I'd like to think of Democrats as less racist, but while that's true of the party as a whole, it's only partially true on the individual level.

I suspect if you look at other issues, like climate change, etc, you'll find similar results, and that this explains why in many issues the Democratic side appears to be more in line with "facts" -- the coalition as a whole is just exposed to more facts and viewpoints, by virtue of its more diverse membership. But on the individual level, we should keep in mind that politics makes us stupid.

Not responding to anyone in particular, but it’s important to note that this particular phenomenon is not people passing their opinions off as facts. It’s quite the opposite. It’s passing off being wrong on the facts as a difference of opinion.

Some more "facts":

EVENING NEWS
Evening News Ratings: Week of June 29

By Chris Ariens on Jul. 8, 2015 - 11:22 AM

Lester Holt wins his second week as anchor of NBC Nightly News, and he did it with the biggest lead over ABC’s World News Tonight this year. Holt was pitted against his formerWeekend Today show co-anchor Amy Robach, who was sitting in for the vacationing David Muir on ABC.
Nightly News has now won 7 of the last 10 weeks among total viewers and had its best A25-54 viewer delivery in more than 3 months.
Compared to the same week last year, CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley was up the most in viewers (+17 percent), while Nightly News was up the most in the A25-54 demo (+17 percent).
All three broadcasts are based on a four-day average (Mon-Thurs) due to the July 4th holiday.
Numbers for the week of June 29, 2015:
NBCABCCBS• Total Viewers:
8,449,000
7,498,000
6,737,000
• A25-54:
1,702,000

Considering the smaller number of households with subscription cable service, it is hard to compare, I agree. But there are millions of Americans who apparently watch no news at all

I don't understand your point, but you're free to continue to make it.

And why are those "facts" as opposed to facts?

The 6th tallest pyramid in the world is a Bass Pro Shops megastore in Memphis, TN.

mjh said:

mtierney said:
Apparently, the reason for Fox dropped to second place in July was due to the Discovery Channel's Shark Week! ">
This report should come as a shock to many posters who are convinced nobody watches Fox! Probably too timid to admit it! I watch CNN (missing Erin, don't like Wolf); struggle to watch MSNBC (anchors are unhappy and strident); try to watch The Five on Fox which has a good mix - and the Irish duo occasionally (don't care for Smith or Hannity.
FOX NEWS | RATINGS
July 2015 Ratings: Fox News Marks 163 Months At #1


By Mark Joyella on Jul. 29, 2015 - 9:12 AMComment
Fox News Channel marked 163 consecutive months at number one in July, a streak that dates to January 2002. But FNC was the only cable news network to see total day viewership declines. FNC, which still beat CNN and MSNBC combined, was down -4 percent in viewers and down -7 percent in the A25-54 demo.
The ratings for July 2015:
Prime time (Mon-Sun): 1,629,000 Total Viewers / 314,000 A25-54
Total Day (Mon-Sun): 982,000 Total Viewers / 187,000 A25-54
In prime time, FNC was down -9 percent in viewers but up +5 percent in the demo. FNC posted gains with The O’Reilly Factor (+4 percent) and The Kelly File (+15 percent) in the demo compared to July 2014). Megyn Kelly had her second-highest-rated month in the demo since her prime time show launched in October 2013. One of the network’s biggest gains was Shepard Smith Reporting, which grew +26 percent in the demo versus a year ago.
With back-to-back weeks as the number one network in prime time, Fox News reached number two across all of cable for the month.

To correct the record, when people make comments about how few people watch Fox News, they are usually referring to the fact that few people watch cable news at all. Yes, Fox is #1 among cable news channels, but in the overall scheme of things, the number of people who cable news is quite low (in comparison to the overall # of TV viewers in the U.S.)
1-2 million people watching Fox News during prime time is 1-2 million of about 100 million +. Not that many, overall.

About a 2 share.

mtierney said:
Some more "facts":
EVENING NEWS
Evening News Ratings: Week of June 29


By Chris Ariens on Jul. 8, 2015 - 11:22 AM

Lester Holt wins his second week as anchor of NBC Nightly News, and he did it with the biggest lead over ABC’s World News Tonight this year. Holt was pitted against his formerWeekend Today show co-anchor Amy Robach, who was sitting in for the vacationing David Muir on ABC.
Nightly News has now won 7 of the last 10 weeks among total viewers and had its best A25-54 viewer delivery in more than 3 months.
Compared to the same week last year, CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley was up the most in viewers (+17 percent), while Nightly News was up the most in the A25-54 demo (+17 percent).
All three broadcasts are based on a four-day average (Mon-Thurs) due to the July 4th holiday.
Numbers for the week of June 29, 2015:
NBCABCCBS• Total Viewers:
8,449,000
7,498,000
6,737,000
• A25-54:
1,702,000
Considering the smaller number of households with subscription cable service, it is hard to compare, I agree. But there are millions of Americans who apparently watch no news at all

Especially during Shark Week.

What on earth is your point?

It's always shark week on MOL.