The game of opinions

Ah opinions... Everybody has them... There's one thing people don't realize however. There are mainly two types of opinions. One type can truly be considered an opinion, the other, not so much. We've become so used to calling everything an opinion, that we sometimes can confuse ourselves, and this limits us from digging deeper into a certain subject. I'll be discussing this in more depth below.  First, let's take the general definition of the word 'opinion', from Oxford Dictionaries. The latter part of the definition is the most important. You'll understand why later.

Definition of opinion:
a view or judgement formed about something, not (necessarily) based on fact or knowledge

Let's start with the easiest one. If I say as a general statement that I like chocolate, that's obviously my opinion. It's a view or judgment coming from me, about this thing we call a chocolate. Also note that it's also not based on fact. Knowledge is a little more gray, since one needs the knowledge of what chocolate tastes like to have an opinion about it. It is however, definitely not based on fact. No one can prove for a fact that I like chocolate, and even if you think you can, whether the chocolate statement is true or not doesn't hold much value to anyone else but me. If someone replies to my statement of liking chocolate with "No you don't!", we can all understand how the reply lacks merit, since the one replying does not hold the perspective that I have. This is all opinion based on aesthetics, and I would call these aesthetic opinions the only real type of opinion. It's a personal perspective, and whether other people share it or not, does not really matter. You don't have to like chocolate because I like it.


And now comes the hard part. The other type of opinions. These are the opinions that express a view or judgment based on something external. This means, we're no longer talking about your subjective perspective, your aesthetics, or your personal taste. These so-called opinions are based on the reality we share together. And herein lies the problem. There is no such thing as a statement based on reality, that at the same time is 'just an opinion'. The only time this can be the case, is when someone deliberately avoids the knowledge, facts, and/or evidence from the external world. Let me give you an example.

A while back, I was discussing with someone regarding evolution vs intelligent design. There came a point in the discussion, where I quoted a scientist. The quote goes as follows:
"We should reject as a matter of principle the substitution of Intelligent Design for the dialog of chance and necessity, but we must concede that there are presently no detailed Darwinian accounts of the evolution of any biochemical system, only a variety of wishful speculations."

When I asked the person what he thought of that quote regarding there presently being no detailed Darwinian accounts of the evolution of any biochemical system, he said "it's just the opinion of one scientist". What did he just do? He shoved the statement aside, by calling it an opinion. He's deliberately avoiding the knowledge he could gain by investigating the statement. He's avoiding thinking. The statement the scientist makes is not really an opinion. It's an objective statement about reality, which can be verified by anyone. One only has to look for these detailed Darwinian accounts. One can look at the facts and very quickly find out whether the scientist was right or not. These types of statements can be only true or false. So, the game people play with the word opinion, is the avoidance of investigation or thinking. 

If people tell you 'it's just your opinion', they are saying that they disagree, not based on facts, not because they thought about it, but because they don't feel like it. In other words, based on ego or emotion. The other side is also true. The word 'opinion' is used as an excuse to talk whatever we want, especially when we have no idea what we're saying. It's a defense to avoid facing the nonsense we're talking, a way to hide that we didn't really do our homework. It's the shield that helps us to escape shame and protect our ego. 

Until we start making the distinction between real opinions and statements (being) masquerading(-ed) as opinions, we will too often be talking past each other. We'll let others and ourselves get away with nonsense, thus avoiding responsibility. We will  fail to admit when we're wrong, let emotions get in the way, and fall into violence, be it verbal or physical. This hampers our progress as individuals, and as a species. 

Now I'm just gonna wait for someone to tell me how this is all just my opinion... ;)