I suffer from analysis paralysis. I have a hard time committing to opinions. Ironically, I am the most opinionated about what people should do with their opinions. I wrote about this a couple years ago. (I have such analysis paralysis that it took me 5 minutes to convince myself that it wasn't too egotistical to link to an old blogpost in a new blogpost). When forming an opinion, I subconsciously consider it from the perspective of all parties involved. (I think this comes from years of reading papers from the perspective of the devil's advocate since my inability to commit to opinions seems to be getting worse and worse). It is because of this over-analysis that I have a reoccurring stress dream where I am forced to make an executive decision about something unimportant like choosing a restaurant or movie. (Stop judging me...you have your weird thing, too).
It is also because of this analysis paralysis that I do not understand everyone's insistence on being so opinionated on the internet. Opinions are polarizing. They don't have to be verbalized for you to entertain them. I promise they are not as important as you think they are the moment that you are having them. If you really need to get that opinion out there, call your best friend or text them. Tell your spouse. Tell your dog. Don't throw your opinion out there for millions of people. This is an opinion that just occurred to you like ten seconds ago. It might not be fully developed yet. It is premature, possibly uneducated. It's like a baby. It can't even stand or read yet. Would you send your baby out into the world before it knows how to walk? So why would you send your brand new baby opinion out into the world wide web? (Hey, I am aware of how quickly this metaphor breaks down by the way. I know we cherish our children more than our opinions. All metaphors eventually break down).
Yes, I know what some of you are thinking. "But what if I really believe in something? Isn't it my right to put my beliefs out there?" If you strongly believe in something then yes, put it out there. But your opinions are NOT beliefs. Your opinions can lead to a deeply embedded, strongly developed belief, but they aren't yet. They just happened. If we take it back to that terrible metaphor, they were just born. They haven't yet become strong enough to go out into the world on their own. They are uneducated, unsupported, incontinent, and they still can't read yet. At first, you trust only your closest friends and family with these opinions. As they develop and become stronger and more self-sufficient, then you take them to the park or museum. Until those little opinions develop into beliefs, they don't need to go out into the world.
The problem is so many people are putting their opinions out there before they are ready because they have mistaken them for beliefs. And then you have a battle of the opinions. This is a very sad spectacle indeed. Uninformed, biased, dickish arguments between people who have never met or who will never look at each other the same way again all because of some underdeveloped opinions.
So this leads me to why the internet is making me a misanthrope. Today, I am seeing people post opinions when they should be posting beliefs. If you are interrupting your previously scheduled programming to participate in a "discourse" on something that you suddenly have an opinion about, please shut up. If you have deeply seated beliefs, get it. Do it. We need you. You are informed. You are educated. You have done your homework. You are changing world-views and squashing ignorance. You are using social media to its best and fullest. And you are hurting today. Belief-holders don't need to hear your opinion today because it is not more important than their heartache. Opinion-holders, you are contributing to the inhumane murder of empathy that social media continues to commit every single day. (I think that was a bit dramatic, but still true).
Instead opinion holders, why don't you watch another episode of Duck Dynasty or a Michael Moore documentary, clean out that drawer in your kitchen that is full of random shit, play some Candy Crush, get a jump start on your Christmas shopping, or go to the grocery store because you know it will be a complete madhouse tomorrow, and you won't be able to find any canned cranberry sauce. You have zero beliefs about what's going on because if you did, you would have been bothered before today, the day when you found out that your opinions don't match the guy's opinions who sits in the cubicle three down from yours.
Or you could spend some time asking yourself why you don't have a deeply held belief about the situation in the first place.
It is also because of this analysis paralysis that I do not understand everyone's insistence on being so opinionated on the internet. Opinions are polarizing. They don't have to be verbalized for you to entertain them. I promise they are not as important as you think they are the moment that you are having them. If you really need to get that opinion out there, call your best friend or text them. Tell your spouse. Tell your dog. Don't throw your opinion out there for millions of people. This is an opinion that just occurred to you like ten seconds ago. It might not be fully developed yet. It is premature, possibly uneducated. It's like a baby. It can't even stand or read yet. Would you send your baby out into the world before it knows how to walk? So why would you send your brand new baby opinion out into the world wide web? (Hey, I am aware of how quickly this metaphor breaks down by the way. I know we cherish our children more than our opinions. All metaphors eventually break down).
Yes, I know what some of you are thinking. "But what if I really believe in something? Isn't it my right to put my beliefs out there?" If you strongly believe in something then yes, put it out there. But your opinions are NOT beliefs. Your opinions can lead to a deeply embedded, strongly developed belief, but they aren't yet. They just happened. If we take it back to that terrible metaphor, they were just born. They haven't yet become strong enough to go out into the world on their own. They are uneducated, unsupported, incontinent, and they still can't read yet. At first, you trust only your closest friends and family with these opinions. As they develop and become stronger and more self-sufficient, then you take them to the park or museum. Until those little opinions develop into beliefs, they don't need to go out into the world.
The problem is so many people are putting their opinions out there before they are ready because they have mistaken them for beliefs. And then you have a battle of the opinions. This is a very sad spectacle indeed. Uninformed, biased, dickish arguments between people who have never met or who will never look at each other the same way again all because of some underdeveloped opinions.
So this leads me to why the internet is making me a misanthrope. Today, I am seeing people post opinions when they should be posting beliefs. If you are interrupting your previously scheduled programming to participate in a "discourse" on something that you suddenly have an opinion about, please shut up. If you have deeply seated beliefs, get it. Do it. We need you. You are informed. You are educated. You have done your homework. You are changing world-views and squashing ignorance. You are using social media to its best and fullest. And you are hurting today. Belief-holders don't need to hear your opinion today because it is not more important than their heartache. Opinion-holders, you are contributing to the inhumane murder of empathy that social media continues to commit every single day. (I think that was a bit dramatic, but still true).
Instead opinion holders, why don't you watch another episode of Duck Dynasty or a Michael Moore documentary, clean out that drawer in your kitchen that is full of random shit, play some Candy Crush, get a jump start on your Christmas shopping, or go to the grocery store because you know it will be a complete madhouse tomorrow, and you won't be able to find any canned cranberry sauce. You have zero beliefs about what's going on because if you did, you would have been bothered before today, the day when you found out that your opinions don't match the guy's opinions who sits in the cubicle three down from yours.
Or you could spend some time asking yourself why you don't have a deeply held belief about the situation in the first place.
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