What’s In An Opinion….

By Lynne Weaver
“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.” Albert Einstein.

According to my trusty American Heritage dictionary, the meaning of the word ‘opinion’, in its simplest form, is “a judgment or estimation” and being opinionated is “holding stubbornly to one’s beliefs.”There’s nothing wrong with having an opinion because we all own up to many of them on a multitude of subjects. I like opinions and spend a good deal of time listening to and reading the opinions of others. Most online sources that include newspapers, magazines and blogs have comment sections that I not only read but contribute to. No matter how strongly I feel about a certain subject, I first try to apply a little logic as well as weigh and balance the source for credibility.

There are a lot of opinions out there in the world of news on a number of emotionally charged topics like healthcare, the war in Iraq and where and in what court the Gitmo prisoners should be tried. The media, of course, is the major source of information between news and the people who listen to it or read about it. Some news reports are tinged with a touch of opinion and melodrama to enhance readership but media opinion is also driven by the source of information itself. Political party affiliation seems to determine who we are at any given point in time and our opinions become based on what the leaders of our chosen political party believe to be true, or what they want us to believe is true.

In order to make informed choices, don’t we have a responsibility to go beyond our party affiliations to do our own research before we finalize an opinion that can change the course of another’s life, perhaps in a negative way? Some seem to have lost their ability to reason, if they had it in the first place. Can it be attributed to laziness? Should we rely completely on which news channel we choose to watch or what newspaper we subscribe to? Should we go along with party affiliation or be prepared to bend back and forth between left and right in order to better estimate the truth values of any given statement?

Some say I overanalyze the truth but how do we know what is truth unless we pick it apart…piece by piece? Isn’t it better to have done that, to educate ourselves through research of a particular topic, then to peacefully accept the status quo as the only acceptable way? How many thought the Wright brothers were nuts to think they could fly like a bird? Who knew we would be able to transport our thoughts across an entire globe by a thing called the ‘internet’?

Anything is possible and opinions are strong only if they are based on education and truth.
Comments…email me at lynne.mackbands@yahoo.com