Do you have an opinion on this philosophy?

Question

I believe that if you do not know enough about a subject to be able to argue both sides of the issue intelligently, then you do not understand the issue well enough to even have a valid opinion.

Rosie C, very good point! However the point of discussing something should never be to "win" the argument. It is the exchange of ideas. Perhaps your opponant has some VERY valid reasoning thus changing your personal slant on the situation. I agree that there may be 3 or more sides, but my personal goal would hopefully always be to seek the truth, or at least the lesser of the evils.

Answer 1

I think your right. I think you should have both sides of the story and be able to know the pros and cons of both. You should also know the liberal point of view. The one that agrees to disagree.

Answer 2

How true! However, you have to consider that opnions are just that.... Opinions. It's very subjective. There are three sides to a truth. Your side, my side and the truth. So if you want to have a valid opinion, you should make it an effort to do research on that particular subject matter. Thereby, you will understand and become knowledgeable and familiar with all the issues surrounding that subject matter.

This way, you can validate and make your opinions more logical and factual and intelligent.

Understanding and knowledge or education are entirely two different aspects.

REBUTTAL TO YOUR ADDTL DETAILS:

Thanks for getting back to me. I totally agree with you!. No, discussion or argument of a subject matter should NOT be for a question of "winning " That shouldn't be the primary goal.

The goal should be one of acquisition of new knowledge. Moreover, the formation of strong and informed opinions. Nevertheless, be tolerant and open- minded to other people 's opinions. That's dynamic learning. Yeah, to quote you; total "exchange of ideas". That's cool! .

Discovery of new data. Revelation of truths. Truths can only be obtained from facts .

Know what ! It's happening already.WE just had an open-end discusssions. I try to focus my answers and statements within the confines of your question. After all we're talking about OPINIONS;right? Somewhere along the line, I lost you when you digress from the subject matter.

I try not to stick to only book knowledge but also practical applicartions from the school of hard knocks. In other words, life experiences. I know I'm qualified because of my profession, (critical care nurse for many, many years) education (Bachelor's and Master's in nursing). and above all my AGE. I'm sure you 'd agree with me on this: that WISDOM comes only with age.

Anybody can form OPINIONS whether valid or not. And everybody's entitled to their own opinions. However, truth comes solely from researched facts, education and intelligence. Jumping to conclusions without supported evidence is fool hardy.

The more I give your question some deliberation. The more; I become convinced and deemed your question to be interesting. Consequently i gave it a STAR.;

Answer 3

LOL..I totally agree with you. But if everyone followed that philosophy then no one would be able to argue anything cause 90% of the people in America don't take the time to investigate. They just take it for face value and run with it.

Answer 4

I agree. I think it's important to know both sides of the subject...you should definitely be able to understand why the other side believes what they believe, and then you need to use your side to intelligently refute their points.

Answer 5

I have to disagree. An opinion is based on emotion. Emotions are valid, even if someone else doesn't understand or approve.
I dislike it when people who do not know what they are talking about are insistent that they are right, but there is a difference between a valid opinion and an informed one.

Answer 6

agreed. I sometimes think if we lived by this philosophy there would be a lot less ignorance and more listening...listening with ears, eyes, etc. to all possible sides of the situation.

Answer 7

All opinions are valid to the person whose opinions they are. Your opinion on the validity of others' opinions is valid to you (but not to me), it’s a mater of prospective. I don't believe I could intelligently argue for the genocide of an entire ethnic group, yet my opinion that genocide is wrong is very valid.

Answer 8

I agree

This is why I hate MTV. They had this huge "Rock the Vote" campaign trying to get young people to vote. Well my opinion is that if they only vote because they watch too much MTV they should stay the hell away from the booths.

Answer 9

I disagree. If you can only argue one side well, you can still have a valid opinion, but you should be open to hearing new information and assimilating it.

Answer 10

I agree 100%