An opinion on voicing opinions

First of all, this article is written on the 21^st of April 2014. I do not commit myself to the opinions expressed in this article in the future. This is due to the uncertainty of who I will be in a month, a year, or five years from now. So I cannot assure you, dear reader, that the writer of this article will have the same opinions in the future. This might be as good of a time as any to say that The Stand does not represent the views expressed in this article.

And with that I finally ask, why has it become so scary to express an opinion? Maybe because someone will always disagree with you, and not everyone remembers that that is not necessarily a bad thing.

It is scary to hold opinions. When I was younger, it was scary for me to say a sweater looked nice in a store without my older sister confirming it first. I grew out of that. I started making my own decision based on my own opinions. Why should we be scared to transfer that skill?

A lot can be said about opinions. When is it acceptable to express an opinion? How is it appropriate to express an opinion? This could get very philosophical. This could even get very serious. This is because there are a very wide variety of opinions. There are opinions on wedding registers and there are opinions on immigration laws.

I like having opinions. Sometimes I even like having dumb, prejudiced opinions. For example: wedding registers. I don’t like demanding brides telling me what want they want in their kitchen. I say this with the full understanding of the benefits of registers—no double ups of toasters, etc. But, it is simply my personal opinion that I don’t like them because of my relationship with gift giving.

In several of the articles I have read, I have come across some harsh comment sections. It is tough to express your opinion online, or even in print. Someone might point out a flaw in your argument. I have two things to say to this. 1) Maybe the author deliberately left his or her opinion out because he or she thought it was common sense. 2) Maybe the author did not consider it, and now will go on to further develop her or his own opinions. She or he might leave her or his opinions behind and stand for new ones. So perhaps we should be careful to judge a person on their opinion. Maybe it would be a good idea just to share ours with them.

Should we encourage students to have their own opinions? Or should we teach students to hold an unbiased view towards every matter so to not step in the wrong?

Does it not benefit to have biased opinions? I have not fully formulated an opinion on this, but it is something I have been thinking about. If we all had an unbiased opinion, where would that take us? Is it not the case that when differences arise we can learn more than if we try to be “politically correct”? We tiptoe around in fear because we do not want to upset someone. We bulletproof every opinion and argument so that no one can justify his or her disagreement towards ours. Surely, this does not lead to intellectual progress.

It does rely on the magnitude of the opinions being expressed, but maybe it’s time to calm down and say what we’re really feeling. But before I end, I realise in saying this I contradict myself, and it is supposed to be ironic. I apologise if my use of personal pro-nouns offended you. Because for all I know, you might not be afraid of voicing your opinion.

Yours truly,

Victoria Skeie

Image courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mr_Pipo_Think_02.svg