It seems that over the past couple months or so, I started having and engaging in more political discussions (on account of the presidential election). When you’re in that space, it feels like you need to have an opinion on every little thing. Geopolitics, taxes, financial policy, etc. How important is it to educate myself and ask questions? Do you feel that pressure to have an opinion on everything?
edit: I don’t think this question is about politics, but if it is, I can delete this.
Imo it’s perfectly fine not to have an opinion on something so long as you don’t weigh in on it, much like how you shouldn’t complain about which candidate got elected if you didn’t vote.
NSFW
https://youtu.be/LBBni_-tMNs#t=49sMoral of the story, if you don’t have an opinion, other people will have that opinion for you.
Yes, not having an option on something is fine. when people push you can always whip out “I don’t know enough about the topic to have an opinion.”
And if you want to fuck with conspiracy wackos you add “So I would just refer to experts on the subject if I wanted to learn about it.”
Also an excellent way to end conversation about a controversial topic when needed.
Yeah, I don’t know about that- that could definitely seem like an invitation to " explain" it to you
Of course. It’s the default option. No pressure. You decide how important it is to you.
I don’t have an opinion about this.
Me neither!
Yes. I think it’s good not to form opinions about subjects you don’t know much about.
When it comes to voting in an election, it’s possible to make good decisions about candidates without forming opinions about every policy issue. That’s kind of the point of representative democracy.
Having an opinion about everything is a sign of extreme hubris. Most people have no knowledge about most of things (lacking education and experience in most of the areas) yet many feel like experts in macroeconomy, geopolitics, social topics, culture - anything and everything.
So this is interesting… My favorite of the definitions of “opinion” I found is
belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge
Because I was about to say that it’s impossible not to have an opinion, which might not be entirely correct.
In DBT we were told that there are helpful, consequential and inconsequential ehm… evaluations? Assessments? Judgments? I don’t know the exact translation. Anyway, an important thing I realized then was that opinions/values etc are not something you form consciously, they just kinda pop up in your head and change shapes depending on what you learn and experience. You are able to detach from your opinions, look at them from the outside.
edit: so what I ultimately wanted to tell you is that you can do this detachment thing with other people’s opinions as well.
I pick my subjects based on how much I actually have a fair deal of knowledge about.
I don’t dare enter discussions that’s beyond my knowledge, like hardcore scientific shit.
It’s ok to not have an opinion, and also ok to be ambivalent about something.
Your time and attention are not unlimited resources.
Don’t have an opinion. Have a code of ethics and empathy. That’ll dictate your opinions when they are needed
I have no strong feelings either way
About pineapple pizza? Yes. About Nazis? No.
It is ok to not have an opinion or not want to divulge it due to backlash. Not worth wasting your energy on people looking for a fight.
I got a hell of a lot smarter when I allowed myself to not have opinions on things. Like if a friend asks me if I have heard of [thing], I am nowadays much better at saying “No, I havent, tell me more” or “I’m not sure. It sounds familiar though. Remind me?”. A big part of this is being in spaces where it feels safe enough to be vulnerable in saying “I don’t know”.
