Today I am asking the question:
At what point are your opinions worth something?
In my social networking class today we were discussing "outside visitors" to our blogs. One student in the class had gotten a comment from a semi-famous blogger/author, Shel Israel. Someone in the class then asked what Shel does besides go around looking for people who have mentioned him in their blog and comment on that. My Professor then explained that such people are often paid by companies for their opinions on products/services etc.
That got me thinking.
In College most often you are graded on how well you can memorize facts and then how well you can articulate those points with only fact to back it up. When you use opinion in your writings you are usually graded down because "who the hell are you to say ... ".
I suppose everyone thinks their own opinion is the right one, although some people are more open to adopting others opinions.
Can one opinion ever be right? I guess not, not for everyone in every situation at least. What does one have to do to have their opinion be worth something? I suppose you could go and get many college degrees or do lots of research on lots of topics, but does that mean you're right? Or more right than someone who hasn't done those things? Isn't that discrediting natural intelligence? This reminds me of the moment I realized adults aren't always right aka the day I began mouthing off to adults. The moment wasn't amazing so I won't go into the detail of it, but when it happened I realized that just because someone is 10,20, or more years older than me it didn't necessarily mean they knew better than me.
So if age isn't an indicator of wisdom then what is?
What I'm getting at and what I'm wondering is when will my opinion mean something to more than the immediate people around me (who probably sometimes take me with a grain of salt)? I love writing about what I believe or don't believe in and I try when I can to back that up with fact. Is my love for voicing my opinion something unique or does everyone feel the same way? If they don't, does that mean it's "meant to be" for me to do this? Who knows. Maybe you do?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Name Your Price
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1 comment:
I think the value of an opinion, as with all things in life is A) in the eye of the beholder and B) a combination of many factors. For example, I couldn't care less what Donald Trump has to say about most topics, including business. However, that's because I think his treatment of others is a good depiction of his character and an indication of how he gained most of his wealth. For me, that's enough to discount his opinion on almost all matters. On the other hand, some people might not even consider those traits in valuing his opinion, or might even consider them to be positive.
Good post, it's a complex issue, the value of opinion. And, unfortunately in today's world, much of this "perceived value" is manufactured by the media. George Foreman doesn't know squat about inventing, wtf is he doing as a judge on America's Next Inventor?
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