Why do some people think that all opinions are equally valid?

Question

Let me give you a clue:
They're not!

redjellolover:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/esoteric

I'm still trying to figure out what you mean.

Answer 1

While differences of opinion are often differences of perspective, or based on semantic differences, people who think that all opinions are equally valid must believe that truth is unknowable, hence all opinions are equally false, they believe that each opinion however faulty contains some grain of truth, or they simply don't understand that, ordinarily speaking, a statement about reality and the opposite of that statement cannot at the same time be equally true.

All opinions are not equally valid because not all minds are equal, but intelligence or lack of it does not create the greatest inequalities in the validity of opinions. It is our values.

"Good" values create better opinions than "evil" values, and regardless of what anybody says, value judgments are impossible to avoid in forming opinions! Responsible people cannot avoid rolling up our mental sleeves and tackling the question of what is the good and what is the evil; getting our values in place and then reasoning and acting in accordance with them. Those who cannot do this cannot achieve the strength and resolve to vote intelligently, to truly assimilate education, much less stand up to an evil regime.

But don't knock these people too much! I think that arriving at a state of believing that truth is relative to the person, the era of time, and the level of understanding reached IS an important stage in developing an intelligent perspective on the world. This outlook contains many virtues, not the least of which is a sense of tolerance, knowing that this is a big world in which many people with many different viewpoints must live together. This state of mind is a stage of development above the state of mind that accepts uncritically all that one has been told in childhood and youth. People who never grow out of the need to be told what to do and what to think may end up losing the convictions of their youth, but will feel a terrible sense of loss, perhaps of guilt, and may spend their lives searching for new authorities, new gurus, now philosophies and religions. The people who say "all opinions are equally valid" are making an irrational and a patently false statement, but at least, by rejecting efforts by others to control their minds, they have made the first step toward thinking for themselves.

A few people arrive at the third, and, to my mind, the best stage:
The stage of being able to use rational, critical thinking to examine all of their assumptions. Rare indeed is the person whose opinions are totally rational and unbiased, but the mature thinker is fully aware of his biases, the emotional roots of his thinking, therefore should have compassionate understanding of the emotionalism and bias of others, and a heightened ability to spot flawed thinking! Who, after all, is a perfect "third-stage" thinker, as some critical thinking advocates have dubbed those who, however imperfectly, have mastered it (and however poorly and inconsistently we use it!)

You're right. Not all opinions are equally valid. As in the plants and animals of nature, some opinions are poisonous and vicious, some appear bizarre and useless, some frighten and irritate those hearing them, and some are downright crazy!

A critical thinker, like a skilled gatherer of herbs and mushrooms in the forest, has studied attentively, and attentively and carefully selects and discriminates, for if it is dangerous to poison the body, how much more dangerous to poison the mind!

Racist teachers, under the direction of their government, trained impressionable young minds to believe that certain races were inferior and deserved torment, contempt and death, during the nineteen-thirties. This false and poisonous opinion, conveyed through these young minds, was deadly. It led many of them into the S.S., whose members actively participated in the torment and murder of millions of people.

The opinions thus planted might have become the majority opinion, but are the best proof of your point: All opinions are not equally valid.

Answer 2

Because in the U.S. we have developed the attitude that everyone is entitled to have an opinion on any subject, regardless. Some people take this to mean that they are entitled to share that opinion with everyone. And since everyone allegedly has an opinion, some come to the conclusion that all opinions are then equally valid.

We don't teach critical thinking that much anymore. We don't talk about credibility and support for one's ideas and opinions that much anymore. And I've seen far to many people who divide information into two categories - it is either a "fact" or it's an "opinion" (an attitude that is the result of not developing what I would consider sufficient critical thinking skills).

I teach the arts, where many have the mindset that it's all about one's own opinion. But this same attitude affects the sciences, where some people don't believe any *proof* because they don't agree with it, relegating it to an "opinion" and believing their own opinion, which has little or no proof, is just as valid if not more so. Reason - because they believe their opinions and don't believe much else.

Answer 3

To the contrary, the actual judgment of validity with other's opinions is purely hindsight, you won't know if it's worth anything until you actual hear/read it.
So reasonable people tend to think all opinions are equally valid as a default initiative to give equal opportunity to hear what others have to say, then they can decide.
One can't automatically discount someone without hearing them out first, now can they? Such a mindset would be detrimental to any type of discourse.
Opinions are not equally valid only after being communicated.

Answer 4

These people are ethical relativist - I am not. They do not believe that truth exists, and therefore every one of their opinions are equally wrong.

I do believe in the existence of a single truth, though it may be undiscernable at this point in time. Time, understanding, science, and knowledge are getting us ever closer to truth. Also, I believe that since their is one humanity, there must also be one social system which best fits the nature of the one humanity.

Perhaps, ethical relativists are cowards in that they don't want to offend someone with an opinion rooted in truth. Ultimately, though, relativism is the reason for such chaos in American society right now. Shame is dying and not many people will call immoral behaviors immoral, because the relativists argue that it can't be proven to be wrong.

Answer 5

A smart person once said that opinions are just like *******. Everyone's got one.

I think there's a big distinction to be drawn between everyone being entitled to their own opinion and eveyone's opinions being equally valid.

Validity, like most things, is in the eye of the beholder. So, for that matter, is the concept that everyone's even entitled to their own opinion. For the sake of courtesy (and not being thought an opinionated jerk or know it all) sometimes it's best to agree to disagree, or politely change the subject.

Answer 6

Including the opinion you've just posted. We all have our separate minds and the views within them are all important. ♥

Opinions are valid to the person that believes them. Just because others disagree doesn't make them invalid. That is what makes opinions equal.

Facts are a whole different topic, but most people will not have strong opinions without some truths to base them on, right.

Answer 7

If everybody's opinions are not viewed as equally valid, then a lot of people would be overlooked or ignored because everybody would be so consumed with the importance of their own opinion.

Also, what was your intention in putting in your "clue"? It discredits any sincerity in posting a question that would truely ask for other people's opinions and attempt at introspection.

It appears as if you want to start a fight with your statement.

Answer 8

Because they are stuck in a duality. that duality being: either only one opinion that is right or all opinions are right. This is not necessarily the case. It may be that multiple opinions may be correct, but not all are. For example, if three blind men all were feeling parts of an elephant, the one holding the trunk may say it is like a hose, the one by the leg may say it is like a tree, and the one by the tail may say it is like a whip. if another were touching a leg and saying it was small like a rabbit he would be wring, while all three of the others are correct.

Answer 9

Perhaps because everyone is emotional and feels a certain way about everything. I believe that over-emotional people believe that all opinions are equally valid. Although everyone feels and despite the fact that their feelings are real, that doesn't mean that everyone is right.

Answer 10

No one actually believes this, although they may try to present arguments for it. Any such argument can be swept away simply by asking; "would you accept madical advise from a 3 year old as equal to that of a doctor?"