Opinions - everyone has one. Are they all valid?

[credoconsolans]

My personal belief is that while everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion, not every opinion is educated, informed or worth hearing.

Recently, on different forums, I can't believe the push back I've been getting with people telling me that all opinions are valid.

One gentleman claimed that if in a heated city council meeting about police and race relations, a man who believes the Martians are causing all the problems should be heard because his opinion is valid.

Another woman reminded me that no one is qualified to know what opinions are valid and which are not.

I reminded them both that next time they're undergoing surgery, that I should tell them that their surgeon will be asking his 6 year old child how he should proceed...you know, since all opinions are valid and no one can tell which ones are worth hearing...

So? All opinions valid?

 

[surreptitious57]

If hackenslash were here he would tell you that every opinion is worthless including his own. Although I would disagree
with him and indeed I have because I do not view them in isolation but in the context of which they are expressed and
there is a definitive sliding scale between the informed one born out of knowledge and the uninformed one born out of
ignorance. So all those that have been telling you that all opinions are valid are wrong and that is itself an opinion and
if they object to it they are committing a logical fallacy as something cannot be both right and wrong at the same time

 

[bilby]

Opinions are like arseholes. Everyone has one, and usually they are full of shit. I certainly don't advocate the indiscriminate airing of them in public.

On an issue where the facts are known, opinion is an impediment.

On an issue where the facts are uncertain, opinions are valuable in proportion to their degree of conformity to what little actually is known.

On an issue where no facts are available at all, all opinions have equal (and zero) value.

 

[Davka]

Do you really want my opinion on the subject?

 

[Under the Rose]

Everyone has a perspective on all things that they experience, even if that experience is only peripheral or hearsay.

Strangely though, we are quite attached to our own perspective and there is no one that can change it save ourselves.

In that respect, all opinions are valid to the one who holds them and the majority are of little value to others save as another question in need of an answer.

 

[Angry Floof]

Did you ask them what definition of "valid" they are using?

 

[Bronzeage]

There is such a thing as a valid opinion and there is such a thing as invalid opinion. Common sense and observation are enough to confirm this. Before this judgment can be made, the opinion must be expressed. This is why all people are entitled to express their opinion. No one is required to give it more regard or credence than they feel fit. There is no majesty or nobility in an opinion. It either serves to influence events, or it doesn't. Even then, the degree if influence is not a reflection of it's validity.

 

[rousseau]

If you find yourself in a conversation with someone who makes the claim that "all opinions are valid", you should take your drink, throw it in their face, leave the room, and never talk to them again.

And that is a valid opinion.

 

[Davka]

If you find yourself in a conversation with someone who makes the claim that "all opinions are valid", you should take your drink, throw it in their face, leave the room, and never talk to them again.

And that is a valid opinion.

What a waste of a perfectly good drink.

 

[Under the Rose]

If you find yourself in a conversation with someone who makes the claim that "all opinions are valid", you should take your drink, throw it in their face, leave the room, and never talk to them again.

And that is a valid opinion.

Ah-ha-ha...

All opinions ARE valid, just not necessarily to the current context.

My opinion is that most people are bat-shit crazy, yet happily dysfunctional, so no need for me to intervene (or waste my alcohol, lol).

 

[GenesisNemesis]

I think people just don't want to think about the complexities of life when they say that.

 

[Under the Rose]

I think people just don't want to think about the complexities of life when they say that.

Yet I would counter by suggesting that one is contemplating far more complexity in even conjecturing how people arrive at their diverse opinions.

Children and teenagers are by far the cutest in their absolute convictions, based on their limited life experience.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

My personal belief is that while everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion, not every opinion is educated, informed or worth hearing.

Recently, on different forums, I can't believe the push back I've been getting with people telling me that all opinions are valid.

Well, in my opinion their position is in need of a big dose of Ex-Lax.

 

[laughing dog]

My personal belief is that while everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion, not every opinion is educated, informed or worth hearing.

Recently, on different forums, I can't believe the push back I've been getting with people telling me that all opinions are valid.

One gentleman claimed that if in a heated city council meeting about police and race relations, a man who believes the Martians are causing all the problems should be heard because his opinion is valid.

Another woman reminded me that no one is qualified to know what opinions are valid and which are not.

I reminded them both that next time they're undergoing surgery, that I should tell them that their surgeon will be asking his 6 year old child how he should proceed...you know, since all opinions are valid and no one can tell which ones are worth hearing...

So? All opinions valid?

I suppose if one has the time, listening to all opinions may be a valid exercise in a democracy. However, does not make the opinions themselves valid.

 

[PyramidHead]

The two examples you provide are not really opinions in the same way that "green is better than purple" is an opinion. Believing that Martians cause problems with police relations is a claim about the observable world that can be tested. Given mutual agreement about the preferred outcome of surgery, there are objective answers about how to proceed if you want that outcome, which can also be tested empirically. Some opinions can't be tested empirically, such as the view that electronic music is worse than classical music, or that my cat is preferable to your canary.

 

[fromderinside]

My personal belief is that while everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion, not every opinion is educated, informed or worth hearing.

Recently, on different forums, I can't believe the push back I've been getting with people telling me that all opinions are valid.

One gentleman claimed that if in a heated city council meeting about police and race relations, a man who believes the Martians are causing all the problems should be heard because his opinion is valid.

Another woman reminded me that no one is qualified to know what opinions are valid and which are not.

I reminded them both that next time they're undergoing surgery, that I should tell them that their surgeon will be asking his 6 year old child how he should proceed...you know, since all opinions are valid and no one can tell which ones are worth hearing...

So? All opinions valid?

No. Most opinions are invalid. All opinions require frames of reference. If one's frame can't be justified in a topic area it is invalid.

If one accepts martians exist as does the one opining, then the opiners opinion is valid for the one listening.

Since he raises his question among people who generally don't believe in martians his opinion is invalid.

Of course one could take a quick survey to demonstrate to the opiner that most at the meeting don't accept the idea of the existence of martians. He should be counseled to accept that his opinion is not a valid one for the group to which he presented it to consider since they don't have evidence for martians.

Should he provide evidence that convinces members of the group that there are martians then he should be allowed to go ahead and present his opinion in that context and it would become a valid opinion for that group.

Proper framing.

 

[credoconsolans]

My personal belief is that while everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion, not every opinion is educated, informed or worth hearing.

Recently, on different forums, I can't believe the push back I've been getting with people telling me that all opinions are valid.

One gentleman claimed that if in a heated city council meeting about police and race relations, a man who believes the Martians are causing all the problems should be heard because his opinion is valid.

Another woman reminded me that no one is qualified to know what opinions are valid and which are not.

I reminded them both that next time they're undergoing surgery, that I should tell them that their surgeon will be asking his 6 year old child how he should proceed...you know, since all opinions are valid and no one can tell which ones are worth hearing...

So? All opinions valid?

No. Most opinions are invalid. All opinions require frames of reference. If one's frame can't be justified in a topic area it is invalid.

If one accepts martians exist as does the one opining, then the opiners opinion is valid for the one listening.

Since he raises his question among people who generally don't believe in martians his opinion is invalid.

Of course one could take a quick survey to demonstrate to the opiner that most at the meeting don't accept the idea of the existence of martians. He should be counseled to accept that his opinion is not a valid one for the group to which he presented it to consider since they don't have evidence for martians.

Should he provide evidence that convinces members of the group that there are martians then he should be allowed to go ahead and present his opinion in that context and it would become a valid opinion for that group.

Proper framing.

Sounds good, but in that last scenario, asking him for evidence to prove his opinion is valid would be opening up a can of crazy. The audience will then be subjected to mysterious scars on his body and tales of anal probing as 'proof'.

We don't want to give this guy an opening where he can ever hope that his opinion will be considered valid.

See the scientists who don't even debate Creationism these days because to even debate it gives the idea credibility,

 

[Unbeatable]

I think people just don't want to think about the complexities of life when they say that.

I think people don't want to think about the complexities of life when they say 99.999% of the things people say.

 

[Kharakov]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVCtkzIXYzQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Trodon]

Opinions consist of feelings or reality perceptions. Feelings consist of values, goals, concerns, likes and dislikes. These are not really debatable. As soon as someone begins to talk about rights - a woman's right to choose, the right to bear arms, etc. - they are talking about feelings.

Reality perceptions are about what is true and false. These can at least in theory be proven with a fair degree of reliability. The speed of light, for example, has been known since the eighteenth century, although measurements have become more precise over time. Different ways of measuring the speed of light have been developed. They all come up with essentially the same number, so we can be fairly confident about the speed of light.

There may or there may not be intelligent life on other planets. We do not know yet, but we are likely eventually to discover it. The existence of intelligent life on other planets is a reality perception, although we cannot know yet.

Political arguments are often shouting matches between deaf people. Each side appeals to values and concerns the other side does not have. That is why they usually achieve little but to get people angry. I like to restrict myself to political debates where facts and logical reasoning matter.

A person's feelings are facts about that person. They are not facts about ultimate reality.