Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Opinions are so One-Sided

I like to listen in on conversations and not commit myself in most discussions of personal opinions. I guess I feel I do not have enough information. Information gathering is a prerequisite for an educated opinion.

Where is information to be found, especially the accurate kind?

Newspapers and magazines are biased and provide readers their choice of preferred slant. Other media is similiar. I find that the film industry tends to be more permissive as artists resist restrictions because they feel frustrated by limitations. Artists need liberality in order to express whatever they find inside of themselves; they are the world's mirror. Without art, we would be robots and robots can't can't feel or love and they can have no empathy.
Other people uphold the security of law and order, without which, this world would be undisciplined chaos with no consequences to actions. The details of exactness are as much a necessity to our lives as the strokes of the artists' vision.

(I prefer the purity of an unbiased report.)

Even the information found in the sacredness of scientific data can be corrupted or misunderstood. One week, coffee is good for you, the next it causes cancer. This waffling of scientific conclusions is confusing. Patience is required to make proper deductions as it is in formulating good opinions.

Opinions are mainly based on personal feelings and experiences which do not require the knowledge of anyone else's views or of any other data. This insufficient induction lacks the full range of an informed opinion. Really, an informed opinion is an oxymoron. An informed opinion is, in fact, wisdom. Wisdom would gather all the data available, like a good scientist, and think about it with the thoughtful reflection of an artist. Opinions are second rate, quickly made assumptions which are easier to form than sagacity, which requires more work.

What I have been searching for is wisdom, not opinion. This makes me understand my reluctance to share. Still, even the sharing of an opinion (imperfectly formed as it may be) can bring one closer to wisdom as others test and challenge it. This trial by fire can purify an idea.

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