Category: opinion

Truth vs Opinion

 

I think this is going to be the biggest struggle of our time…learning to distinguish between truth and opinion. They are not the same, and they are not equivalent by any shape of the imagination. An opinion, while often containing truth, doesn’t require any at all. I could state quite correctly that it is my opinion that the sun revolves around the earth. It wouldn’t be true, but it still would be correct in that it was an opinion. Truth is rooted in facts, actual events, often seen and experienced from a variety of angles and perspectives. I could also say the same statement, and it wouldn’t be true at all because the earth revolving around the sun has been corroborated by a variety of facts and evidence. So you can have an opinion about anything you want…it just won’t necessarily make it true.

Opinions can often be stated as fact, as they often are in the political realm…again, that doesn’t make them true, even when they seem real and convincing. That is why it is so important to work hard to find the truth of the matter at hand. I know it can be difficult sometimes. We all have that tendency to want to believe scurrilous information about people we don’t like, but it can lead down a very dangerous road if the veracity of that information isn’t checked by a variety of sources. Something may look like it is a legitimate news story, but when scrutinized and fact-checked it may fall very short of the truth. I know it happens on both ends of the political spectrum, which is why each individual who cares about truth, must be diligent in making sure what information they ingest is accurate. More and more information out there in cyber, satellite, and cable worlds are not. There are many out there who would sway the masses for nefarious reasons and when you buy in quickly without any effort to challenge the information then you are part of the problem.

I get very concerned about leadership conflating their opinions with truth, because they are not the same, yet they encourage their supporters to think that they are. Calling someone a liar or a criminal doesn’t make it true. Facts make those suppositions true, not one’s position in the world, commitment to a particular opinion or how often its repeated. Those of us that are committed to truth often have the most difficult job of all in pointing out inaccuracies, asking hard questions, searching other sources and speaking truth to power. It’s hard and often demoralizing when someone who is so committed to an opinion cares less about the facts that poke holes in that opinion than the opinion itself. Remember, stating an opinion is fine, but only facts make it true.

For now, I’m more comfortable working to find truth on my own than rely on someone’s opinion. I’d rather say I don’t know because I don’t have enough information than be swayed by name calling and political extremism. Those kinds of opinions benefit no one and don’t bring anyone closer to the truth. I also heed the words of Jesus when he said (and I have a feeling I will be quoting this a lot this year)

By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.
 
 

Expert Witness

Graduation-CapYesterday was one of those days when I had just had enough.  Enough of those biting facebook pre-fab pictures with the pithy sarcastic quotes, be it about a sports team, or personal politics; enough of comments from actual people who fall into the category of “it’s true because I read about it on the internet”, or “my friends brother had a cousin who did this and it worked awesome…”; enough of people who think they know everything about a health issue because they saw it on Dr Oz.  Without wanting to sound judgmental ..No wait, that was the old me…in my kindest and gentlest way let me  say  JUST STOP IT!  Having easy access to so much information isn’t always a good thing.  While everyone gets to have an opinion… and having the freedom to express ideas is one of the things I love about this country, here is the proverbial but….not every opinion is weighted the same, some are more well-formed and researched than others, some are just mean, and ummm, yeah some are just mean.

We need experts, people who have taken the time and energy to study and learn about a subject and can then benefit the rest of us from what they’ve learned.  Quite frankly, though, we have lost the ability to appreciate who they really are…PERIOD!  I would hope that most people, when going to all that trouble to share an opinion, would like to be accurate about what comes out of their mouths.  I know my teenage sons think they are experts.   Much of the time they are far from accurate.  I know, I know, welcome to adolescence which is  my first field of expertise… I should know better.  While I may understand them,  I also feel responsible as a parent to teach them how to formulate a well-educated opinion.  Thinking you know it all will never make it so, even if there is a legion of people behind you who think the same way.  When my boys tell me how frustrated they get when I don’t listen to them, or believe them, it is because A) I have already done the painstakingly difficult work of becoming an expert in the field that they are presently choosing to dismiss with such reckless abandon, or B) or I dismiss it because they saw it on a podcast or other questionable source, and my ears just don’t do stupid anymore.  Silence will always be better than stupid in my book.  Yet I do hear them.  I love their passion, but I won’t tolerate their ignorance, especially when it makes my ears bleed.  I will never ask them to regurgitate my ideas.  I want them to have their own opinions, and they do…many in opposition to mine.  I just  WANT THEM  TO DO THE WORK TO FORMULATE A BALANCED AND WELL RESEARCHED OPINION FIRST!  I want my sons to behave as reasonable people attempting to develop well thought out opinions based on factual information, from both sides of an idea, not opinions that are presented as factual information by pseudo experts who have their own agenda to pursue.  And let me tell you, it is an uphill battle when they watch the behavior of some adults who should know better.  Having a strong opinion is a very good thing.  But it is a very bad thing to expect that everyone else should agree with you, or belittle them when they don’t, especially if you haven’t done your homework.  There were plenty of examples of that kind of ignorance in any daily news cycle.

I have strong opinions…surprise, surprise.  I was taught to do my research, listen to real experts and as much as possible,  see an opposing viewpoint from another’s perspective, by sincerely asking them questions to try to figure out why they think the way they do.  Walking in someone else’s shoes, while very difficult, is also an enlightening experience.  Most importantly, for me anyway, is creating a foundation through higher education.  The experts in law, public policy, theology, economics, literature etc. who I studied under, never tried to indoctrinate me, rather facilitated a necessary dismantling of my ignorance, of sorts, and challenged me to re configured a smarter and wiser version.  The great thing I’ve discovered from having such a strong academic background is that the more I know, the more I realize there is to learn and understand.  More importantly, I learned that no real expert is afraid of not knowing every answer, because they are enthused and challenged to find the answer.

And yet I am also aware of how many experts have betrayed the trust of the many….that will have to be for another post, and a lot more research…..