Korean Job Discussion Forums

[CentralCali]

In both online fora and in face-to-face communication, I often hear "Well, I'm entitled to my opinion" when someone has trotted out some banality, such as the most whacked-out 9/11 conspiracy theory ("There was no plane that hit the Pentagon") and then confronted with facts, resorts to the entitlement line.

So, I pose the questions in the poll. Let's remember that this poll is completely unscientific and therefore I won't even try to guess what the margin of error would be.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I think you have to respect every person's right to express an opinion, but you are under no obligation to respect the opinion. I used to teach high school. It always led to confrontations on this topic. It's my contention that you owe Einstein's opinion on physics far more respect than a 16 year old's opinion on physics. This proved to be a rather controversial position to some 16 year olds.

At the same time, I believe that if a person expresses a really flakey opinion, it undermines their credibility on all other issues. For example, if someone espouses a conspiracy theory, I automatically am suspicious of any other opinion they reveal. I can't help it.

[LUCRETIA]

The reason why people can't help it is because most arguments are not really about the merit of the opinion being espoused, its really just a matter of defending the people in question's egos.

You have an opinion, attach to it and make it part of your identity, then defend it fiercely if it is attacked.

If someone thinks something you think is wrong - why should you care? Let people move along in their own lives any which way they please. Doesnt help you to change their minds for them.

[Big_Bird]

That's a very interesting question, and I have to say, I haven't got a definite response.

I would be tempted to go with the 'only a well founded opinion deserves respect' option, but how can I be sure when an opinion is or isn't well founded? I bet there have been many times when good ideas have been brushed because the thoughts proferred came from a less than respected source, and vice versa. So I'd be cautious regarding that option.

[Big_Bird]

[bjonothan]

Yep, that's the unpleasant reality of the internet. People can attack others

more easily because they don't actually have to stand up and be brave

about it.

[Qinella]

[pest2]

In countries that were communist or had dictatorships for many years (and Korea, which was almost a dictatorship for many years), people were not allowed to express their opinions without fear of punishment and/or death. People in those countries, while still having their own feelings about many things that affected them in their lives, did not develop an ability to use opinions of people with whom they associated to solve problems with logical reasoning. The government says X, and whether that government is right or Y is actually true, you must agree with and support X or suffer the consequences. Even if X= "the sky is purple" and everyone who goes along saying actually feels it is really blue, the absence of other people with whom to discuss the sky's true color makes it difficult to ascertain about what color the sky actually is... And for societies that have this kind of government in place for many years, it seems that people in those societies actually learn to be dumb. They learn to sit back and believe what everyone else believes because that has become the accepted way to encounter reasoning aside from the substance of any specific issue at hand.

I think anyone who has lived in Korea for a while can see the kinds of problems that occur when everyone needs to have the same ideas.... dogma leads to incompetence.

In my opinion, about opinions, the best rule we can make is to allow everyone a chance by right to express their opinions. But equally important, we need to learn to 1) have an ability to think about the opinions being expressed critically and fairly so as to make good judgements and rebuttals, as necessary and 2) learn not to take other's opinions personally and resort to making personal attacks, etc... and yes, it does happen on this site alot (I do it whenever someone attacks me first but I know I shouldnt)...

...probably because we all live in this society that represses individual opinions in favor of those of the group and yet most of us come from societies that support a right for individual opinion... maybe we feel caged?

[laogaiguk]