rant about public opinion and personal opinion
First - this is nothing but a rant I have been having in my head for weeks - now it’s to put it down on paper.
Sometimes when you think about people you meet, you get a a first hand impression that sometimes always last. Last night I met a lady that was very opinionated and I really started to think about where she got all these (in my opinion) wrong assumptions from.
We are being taught that we can either live our lives in love or in fear. This lady lives in fear and distrust of other people. Where did she get this from?. I can’t really give an answer, but I know what works for me and what doesn’t.
I get fear from:
evening news
newspapers
people who are fearful
people who tells me horrifying stories
people who have assumptions about other people and races - before they meet them
people who whine and badmouth other people
people who tells me what I should be and what I shouldn’t be
I get love from:
news about subjects that I find myself, that I find inspirational
books
communities
research
people
So how did she become so opinionated ? - to me it sparked a really interesting thought:
What is called the “personal opinion” is sometimes the “public opinion”.
Now how did that happen ?
it would be really easy for me to say “well I blame the media” - I don’t. I think we should blame ourselves. Seriously. Why are we letting fearsome messages dominate our actions and our beliefs ?. Isn’t it a bit too easy just to have the opinion of the media, when we talk about subjects that we know nothing of ?
September 23rd, 2007 at 1:43 pm
I thinks you’re absolutely right. I choose not to read certain news, not to watch television, not to be in the company of people that I feel have a bad influence on me, not to be involved if it makes me feel bad… But I do read the news, I do listen to radio and podcasts, I do meet and interact with a lot of very interestering people, I do read, listen, learn, discuss - and I’m not always right
I love life and I love to trust other people and that is not stupid. What’s stupid is living in fear of what might happen!
So now you’re not the only one ranting.
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Yes. There are people who confuse arrogant ignorance with having an opinion. Now, there is nothing wrong with ignorance, but one could at least make an effort of being frank about one’s state of ignorance. If I know nothing, then I know nothing… I can read and get information, and I may start to think about it, analyze it and be critical of the assumptions imbedded in the other’s opinion. Unfortunately as you have found out, public opinion is often dominated by assumptions that can be rather far from validity.
Thanks for sharing your rant!
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:37 pm
thanks for both your insights… i like the term arrogant ignorance =). and I think that fear of what might happen is something that I have putted behind me - it has been hard with a baby girl though - earlier I could raise my heartbeat from thinking about not having her in my life all of a sudden. Fear of loss is something I have been working with a lot personally.