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Case of Opinionitis?

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by
kathycf
, 04-02-2007 at 03:56 PM (1520 Views)
This is a rant about opinions. Unless you live under a rock, chances are quite good that you will hold an opinion or two about at least something, correct? Chances are also pretty fair that while some people may agree with you, some will not. I suppose the ranting part comes in now....why do some people state their opinion as if it was some carved in stone fact and not something personal and subjective?

Let me give an example:
Person A.) I really enjoyed Peanut Butter Sandwich by Sally Sushi, I think it is one of her better novels.

Person B.) Sally Sushi is a moron and Peanut Butter Sandwich is the written equivalent of a steaming pile of doggy poo.
So in my analysis, person A is stating their opinion subjectively. Person B is coming in and rebutting that. There is nothing wrong with a rebuttal...that is the whole point of a forum in my view, stating one's opinion. The problem to me is the way the rebuttal is stated. It is stated not so much as "Oh this is my opinion on the subject" but more along the line of "Everybody who is anybody recognizes that Peanut Butter Sandwich is utter dreck, because I say so" with an underlying assumption that person A must also be a moron who admires literary poo. Either that, or they are completely misguided and ignorant and of course must benefit by the wisdom of person B.

Do you see my point with this? To me, it smacks of arrogance. Wouldn't it be much more tactful and kinder to say something along the idea of this:

Person A.) I really enjoyed Peanut Butter Sandwich by Sally Sushi, I think it is one of her better novels.

Person B.) To be honest, I am not a fan of Sally Sushi. I find her work in general to be of fairly low quality and to me Peanut Butter Sandwich is full of inconsistencies and glaring errors.
The message is not diluted, person B is still stating his (or her) opinion, but they are owning it as their own subjective feeling--and not trying to make it seem like an objective fact rather than a subjective opinion.

Well, whatever. I don't have the right to dictate to people how they express themselves and of course this is all drivel on my part...I have been known to state my opinions rather arrogantly...which is something I don't like about me or anybody else.
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  1. 's Avatar
    Hey Kathy,I guess a lot of people r too arrogant to admit that they r wrong or even to "self-evaluate" sometimes.After all it's easier to think that people r idiots and that they R ALWAYS RIGHT.i used to get furious when i saw those people and how they talk but i kinda got used to it.
  2. andave_ya's Avatar
    I've been guilty of it a couple of times.
  3. Virgil's Avatar
    I'm very very guilty, Kathy. But let me defend myself. This came from a college english professor. On one of my papers i wrote something to the effect, "in my opinion..." Well, he crossed that out. He said anything that is obviously not a statement of fact is by implication an opinion. To state "in my opinion" or something like that is redundant. Everyone should realize it is an opinion. It need not be stated. So that was drilled into to me and I have forever carried it forward.

    Now I know I have driven people crazy in the past with this on this and other forums. Perhaps it is forum ettiquette to state "IMO". I don't know. On occaision I have felt guilty and stuck it in.

    What do you think? Is it proper internet ettiquette to do that?
  4. kathycf's Avatar
    Well, in the second example I used, person B doesn't say "In my opinion"...he (or she) just states how they feel. Is it proper forum etiquette to clarify with a statement of IMO?

    To be honest, I don't know. I don't think it is necessary to preface everything you say with "In my opinion" and I wasn't thinking of anybody in particular when I wrote this entry, more so just something that was on my mind. I think it is ok to say honestly if you don't like something. I just don't like it when people act like they are "The Opinionator" and beat me figuratively over the head with their opinion. There is a way to express oneself respectfully, and tactfully....and state one's likes or dislikes while keeping in mind not everybody is going to agree. I think it is fine to be passionate in one's likes and dislikes...but I guess I just don't want to marginalize somebody else's point of view. I sort of feel I have done that, and I am feeling kind of down on myself and wallowing in the self pity mire.
  5. kiz_paws's Avatar
    Well, ideally, people could speak to one another the way that they would like to be spoken to. Naturally, there will be differing opinions and the occasional conflict. It is all in how we approach one another, and that is sometimes embarassing, if we are caught up in our own passions and thus answer more passionately than we ought to... hmmm, still no excuse to slam one another, though.
  6. Virgil's Avatar
    First, don't be down on yourself Kathy. You brought up a good subject that perhaps should be a forum thread for everyone's participation.

    I kind of think I'm boorish with my forum ettiqutte, so I would blame me. I certainly go into troubling waters without idicating that is is my opinion. For instance I got into a pretty heated discussion here once when I said something to the effect that "Hamlet" (the play) is flawed because of the way Shakespeare drops the ghost mid way through the play. I did not say IMO. But obviously that is an opinion, not that I'm some high authority dictating that the world's greatest playwright wrote a flawed play. Now a lot of anger was raised. Would I have been better off to say IMO? Perhaps that would have made it more palatable for the die hards.
  7. mtpspur's Avatar
    I actually liked the Sally's Peanut Butter Sandwich--it was the sequel Jelly Doughnuts that left me cold.
  8. kathycf's Avatar
    mtpspur! Anybody who is anybody knows that Jelly Doughnut is pure dreck! My cat produces better hairballs than that!

    Now, Elbert Floopy produced a real literary masterpiece with his work, Coffee Milkshake.


    hehheh, thanks for the giggle.
  9. mtpspur's Avatar
    I hope you realize that Elbert Floopy's Coffee Milkshake was a thinly disguised swipe (we dare not call it plargarism) of Yogurt Tea, or have you never read it? It was famously wriiten on French postcards by Harvey Higgenbotham who passed away in 1927 and left no heirs to pursue the lawsuit. The movie rights are stilled tied up by Speilberg.