Opinions

So when Tastyjacks introduced me in this post, he spent a while claiming that I have a relatively neutral stance on most issues, and rarely take opinions. Back in first year, I was asked whether or not it was ever appropriate to kill a nun; my immediate response went something along the lines of “well, it depends if she was Hitler or not”. Clearly, since this point, I have been known largely as a fence-sitter in most matters.

I have never really explained why I tend to do this. For me, it comes down to two main reasons. Firstly, I may not have adopted a position because I have no particular interest in the issue; this isn't to say that the issue is not nonetheless important – it’s just that I may not have (as yet) deemed the topic to be of too much relevance to me.

The second (and main) reason that I choose not to adopt a position is because of ignorance. Despite its negative connotations, ignorance is, at its heart, simply unawareness (or unwillingness to become aware) of the many facets of an issue. Basically, the upshot is that I feel uncomfortable expressing an opinion on a subject when I know too little about the subject matter.

Contrary to the opinion of many, it is impossible for one to be across everything in enough depth to lend validity to particular points of view. And even then, these points of view may still remain divisive and varied across a spectrum (counter-intuitively, a very good thing). Where I really take issue, is with people forming opinions with little to no “real” knowledge of a subject area (that is, knowledge that is untainted or as unbiased as humanly possible).

One of the core tenets of academia is the principle of reflexivity; that is, a process of recognising and identifying your own inherent biases, and hence being mindful of the way in which these may (usually unconsciously) shape your values and assumptions (and as such, your opinion).

Herein lies the problem. Human beings may spend their lives studying a particular area, and still have neither the mental capacity nor time to become deeply familiar with a minuscule segment (within a larger segment, within a broader area etc. etc.) of a topic. As such, we naturally rely on others’ summations and representations of the facts.

Herald Sun, 24th September, 2014

Facts will always be tainted or misconstrued when heard second hand; this is a fact of life. What really worries me is when people pay complete disregard or fail to acknowledge their own reflexivity (whether unintentionally, or intentionally *cough* Rupert Murdoch *cough*). Examples abound, but the most topical one (and I'm sure you’re already thinking about it) concerns the attempted murder/police station shooting in Endeavour Hills. The moment this man placed that ISIS flag in his pocket, this issue turned from a singular pg.3 newspaper article, into a Herald Sun 10 page-long bonanza (laced with fear-mongering, speculation, and sensationalism). Something as simple as an apparent belief in an ideology turned the perception of this man from a criminal to a terrorist. I am not questioning the gravity of the incident – two attempted murders and a shooting is still a big news event regardless – but the mere presence of a weakly-constructed association with ISIS blows this serious-but-routine crime into a full scale act of terrorism.

This tainting of information gives rise to ignorance. And ignorance gives rise to ill-informed, dangerous opinions. Once these opinions gain a decent foothold, and get turned into actions, we should all indeed be very alarmed.

#J.Nic#