Long-time readers may have noticed that this space is often filled with an opinion or three. Each week, some topic is chosen, and then an opinion is written. Sometimes that opinion will be from a different perspective, or from looking at an issue from the opposite side that I might actually fall on. Lately, I have wondered why I have an opinion on some things at all. Have I fallen into the societal trap that I must have an opinion about everything?
It is easy to have an opinion about something. You don’t have to be the most informed, have the most — if any — information about a topic or issue. Any old opinion will count. But why?
The news comes at us at a mile a minute. Even if you don’t have a cell phone at your fingertips, open a newspaper, turn on the TV or radio, go on your computer, and you are faced with an onslaught of news. Your email will have the latest medal updates from the Olympic Games because apparently when Canada reaches even third place in an event, media outlets send out virtual notifications like the commissioner setting off the Bat-Signal. The stock market goes up, you get a signal. It’s getting to the point that if someone stubs their toe on the spalling concrete sidewalk in our local plaza, there will be notifications.
This inundation of news and media provides plenty of sources to opine about. Reaction has taken over from reflection. If we are bombarded by information from the time we get up until we fall asleep, do we have to respond in real time? Should I write a pithy comment on Facebook, or make a comment in the checkout line when I see something?
British comedian Ricky Gervais has often said that just because someone may be offended by something (usually a comedic comment made by him) doesn’t mean you are right. I’ll take that one step further and ask why we are getting offended. Why are we looking for an opinion in the first place?
Years ago, people would take in information from sources and just leave it at that. Oh, there’s a war happening halfway across the world. It’s not happening here. It isn’t affecting my day-to-day life. You could say I have an opinion by thinking I am sorry that there is a war going on somewhere, but that’s about it. I don’t have to start posting on social media about needing to end that war. We should all be able to file that information away for future use — say, travel planning — and that’s it.
Not having an opinion is not being indifferent to a situation or issue, nor is it a cop-out. Who am I to be so shallow as to think my opinion is going to make any hill of beans difference? There are social pressures that everyone must have an opinion, but who’s doing the pressuring? Each other.
I have opinions about a lot of things, but I don’t have a lot of opinions about things. Politically, I have many opinions, but on art, I have very few, if any. I appreciate art, but am not opinionated. I can be uncertain about how something looks, and I don’t need to share that opinion. I am not an art expert, so my opinion — while valid to myself — is not going to set the art world on fire by any means.
Not every issue is a personal issue for every person. Our identity is not something that should be defined by only the opinions we have.
I am quite happy not knowing every opinion about every topic from every person I know. There is bliss in my ignorance, in part because if I know their opinions, I may form opinions of my own. As the old maxim says, it is better to remain silent and be thought to be stupid than it is to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
It’s okay not to have an opinion.
Discover more from Wandering with Phil
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.