It depends on what the opinion is on If you don’t have an opinion on whether strawberry or raspberry jam makes no difference

But if it’s something that affects you or people you care about (or people you should care about) and you don’t form an opinion that reflects badly

I think it’s better to be quiet on a matter you don’t understand.

IDK man.

I’d say that if you do have an opinion and state an opinion on something, then you should also know enough to explain why.

Specifically about politics, it’s scary how many people have an opinion without knowing why. Politics is also something that everyone should have an opinion on, because it affects pretty much everything, so everyone do have an interest in something political. It shouldn’t be based on feelings or the charisma of the candidate or group pressure. It should be based on what affects you and how you’d want it done.

Having an opinion about everything is a sign of extreme hubris. Most people have no knowledge about most of things (lacking education and experience in most of the areas) yet many feel like experts in macroeconomy, geopolitics, social topics, culture - anything and everything.

I mean, it’s okay to not have positions on a lot of things. People tend to get upset if the position you’re dithering over is whether they or their loved ones deserve to live or have equal human rights. Most other things, honorable people may differ.

How important is it to educate yourself and ask questions?

Very. Everything is political, and ignorance about politics is a luxury. It allows others to make decisions for you, often ones you wouldn’t choose yourself.

Polite society - “Never, ever discuss politics or religion. Thinking that you can change someone’s mind on either of these subjects is foolish and arrogant and the conversation will always, without fail, end in an argument”

Americans for some fucking reason - “Hold my high fructose corn syrup”

Of course, it’s okay. Being able to say “I don’t know” is a sign of intelligence in itself.

A huge number of people form opinions based on very limited knowledge, but these opinions then become part of their identity, and they feel compelled to defend them tooth and nail. I think the middle ground here is the idea of “strong opinions, loosely held,” meaning you have an opinion, but you understand it’s based on the best knowledge available at the time. You leave room for new information and allow your opinion to evolve. In fact, most opinions probably should be like that. There are very few views I hold that I feel are almost guaranteed not to change.

The Dunning-Kruger effect plays a big role here. When someone gains a moderate amount of knowledge on a subject, they often feel like they have a good understanding of it. But as they keep learning, they realize just how little they actually know. Uninformed people, by contrast, don’t know what they don’t know. These are the ones who write comments on social media pretending they’ve solved complex issues with simplistic solutions like “just do X,” while completely ignoring all the nuance. When you then try to introduce that nuance, they dig their heels in, taking it as a personal attack rather than a critique of their idea. This happens because they didn’t leave room for new information - they locked in their opinion, made it part of their identity, and threw away the key.

Can I have your opinion on the weather on Raxacoricofallapatorians right now?

• You’ve never heard of it? Absolutely fair that you don’t have an opinion then.
• You don’t care? Also fair not to have an opinion.
• You haven’t bothered to stay up to date with Slitheen weather politics? Fair, no need to have an opinion.
• You just don’t want to form an opinion, just cuz? Yep, fair, no opinion it is.

Heck, you can have an opinion and just go “fuck it, no I am not sharing it”. That’s also fine.

So this is interesting… My favorite of the definitions of “opinion” I found is

belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge

Because I was about to say that it’s impossible not to have an opinion, which might not be entirely correct.

In DBT we were told that there are helpful, consequential and inconsequential ehm… evaluations? Assessments? Judgments? I don’t know the exact translation. Anyway, an important thing I realized then was that opinions/values etc are not something you form consciously, they just kinda pop up in your head and change shapes depending on what you learn and experience. You are able to detach from your opinions, look at them from the outside.

edit: so what I ultimately wanted to tell you is that you can do this detachment thing with other people’s opinions as well.

I have a hell of a lot of respect for people who are forthright and just say “You know, I don’t have a lot of experience regarding <subject>, so I don’t think I can weigh in on that”

it amazes me how seldom people are brave enough to admit they don’t know something.

short answer: yes

long answer: opinions are kind of a privilege. if you’re someone working 9 to 5 you probably couldn’t give a shit about anything other than relaxing and winding down from the stress of a work week. if you’re someone who manages to still be involved, congrats. pushing this unto other people imo is not fair. ideally people would work less and have more free time to get situated with how their surroundings are being legislated

Not having an opinion is MUCH better than sticking to an uninformed opinion with stubborn fervor. Nobody can possibly know everything, so it’s perfectly fine to take time out to research something, or decide that it’s not worth your time and forget about it completely.

Yes, not having an option on something is fine. when people push you can always whip out “I don’t know enough about the topic to have an opinion.”

I don’t have an opinion about this.