If there is one thing that philosophy classes and engaging in hot button discussions have taught me, it’s that strong opinions are a funny thing, and not suited for everyone or every circumstance. It’s not that I particularly like or dislike strong opinions, or even that they don’t have a place in writing and conversation, but strong opinions are like strong alcohols.
Unless you are accustomed to them, it is all too easy to misuse and abuse them, or even to react unpredictably and explosively to them. Strong alcohol and strong opinions must be taken with a certain approach and intent that is not always best suited for the casual drinker, or in this case reader.
For example, a great deal of the campus drinks hard liquor with no intent of enjoying any of the fine qualities within them, but with the more narrow intent of getting drunk. My focus isn’t to judge this behavior, but I do mean to make this observation; that getting drunk lessens reasoning abilities, slows thought, evokes strong swings in personality and emotion among some, and from the outside can often look like one of the most unpleasant of experiences.
It’s not all that common to find someone at a party who is sipping whisky from the glass enjoying the sophistication of the drink and subtle hints underneath the strong flavor of alcohol. Instead, it is all too easy to find a partygoer consuming drinks as fast as possible to attain the side effects of alcohol on the mind and body.
“Emotion does not make for a good argument and just because a writer writes with a fury or passion on a topic doesn’t mean they’re reasoning is sound or argument is really all that great.”
Now, most people that drink this way buy the cheap stuff because they don’t care for the subtleties and hints of a good bottle, and just like a strong opinions, strong alcohol of this high proof variety has a tendency to get people all riled up. A strong opinion that is not well formulated and carefully thought out does little to benefit the reader except to evoke strong emotions.
Just as the kick of tequila may lead some into a fit, or wine may make some cry, the punch of strong opinions can call the reader to arms or shut them off from critical thought all together.
Emotionally charged pieces often emotionally affect others in equally charged ways, whether they be positive or negative. But emotion does not make for a good argument and just because a writer writes with a fury or passion on a topic doesn’t mean they’re reasoning is sound or arguments really all that great. And in this way, a strong opinion piece may be more dangerous than rum or vodka.
Besides the emotional effects of alcohol, there are other more bodily affects to consumption such as vomiting. Drink too much too quickly, and you are likely to get sick and expel the poison from your body.
Likewise, the reaction induced by strong opinions often times is one of regurgitation. If you read strong opinion pieces too often and without much thought to the soundness and validity of the arguments, you are likely to regurgitate the opinion of others without much thought to your own opinion, or whether their opinions are really that good. And when someone challenges your regurgitated opinion, if you have not read a rebuttal by someone else you will be left grasping at straws unless you are able to somehow formulate an original thought, which if you have been reading to many strong opinion pieces may be a struggle.
Just as consumption of strong alcohol can induce sickness in people, some can even become nauseous from the taste or smell of strong alcohol. That said, you could grow accustomed to this and avoid nausea by developing a taste for it overtime. This can be problematic, for a taste for one thing isn’t a taste for another.
A tolerance for the taste of rum is different than a tolerance for tequila, and constantly absorbing opinions you find agreeable can make it tougher to handle the ones you don’t. Reading opinions you already agree with may make you feel good, but they don’t make you a better thinker.
Reading things that don’t settle well with you evokes more critical thinking and reasoning that can not only strengthen your own opinions, but also make your understanding of other’s opinion deeper and richer. But if you get hooked a certain flavor of opinion it may be hard to get off it, and to try other things.
Most oddly about strong opinions and strong alcohol is that a great deal of people seem to enjoy them for the sheer value of how it makes them feel, and not for their intrinsic worth. People like things that make them feel good, but in both cases this temporary high is just that, temporary. The side effects of over-indulgence over a long period of time of either alcohol or opinions are ruinous to health, alcohol to the body and strong opinions to the mind.
“Reading strong opinions can either enhance this experience, or it may dilute it. If you’re a fan of Slate or The Huffington Post go read Fox News or The Drudge Report for a change.”
Someone recently said that we attend this higher institute of learning in order to have our thoughts and values challenged. Reading strong opinions can either enhance this experience, or it may dilute it. If you’re a fan of Slate or The Huffington Post go read Fox News or The Drudge Report for a change and vice versa.
If you’re going to indulge in strong opinions at all, balance out and moderate your consumption of them. Over consumption of strong alcohol can be disastrous over time, so why would strong opinions be any different?
-Matthew Glasier