Sunday, November 14, 2010

Let's argue opinion.

Did 90% of the internet population miss the fact that opinions are relative? I think so. This video comes to mind when I bring this subject up.

It begins by explaining how he is about to compare two separate genres of music and show how one is inferior to the other. He then proceeds to play one genre, and then the next as if his point is being proven. And there's a plethora of videos like this that circulate youtube.

The statement "The poet T'ao Ch'ien lived during the period of the Six dynasties" is a fact. A fact is a statement that can be proved true or false by evidence. The statement "T'ao Ch'ien is China's greatest poet" is an opinion. An opinion is a statement that can be supported by facts but that is not itself a fact. It cannot be proved either true or false. Others, for example, may agree with your estimation of T'ao Ch'ien, and you may be able to cite passages from his poems that support your view, but the statement itself still cannot be proved true or false.

Opinions may be further classified as judgments (personal beliefs or attitudes), predictions (statements about the future), or obligations (statements about action that should or should not be undertaken).1

What is our world coming to when people are throwing out rational arguments for arbitrary onions? It's a sad state of affairs when people think their opinion superior to someone else's. By this person making this video, they are somehow stating that their opinion is fact, when clearly it cannot be. People need to consider these things when throwing around their opinion. It's foolish is what it is.

Update: see this video for the most ridiculous debate ever imaginable. My point is made once again. I like vanilla, you like chocolate, neither is inherently superior than the other.

1)Taken from Eng 12 assignment.

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