"Your opinion is wrong."

[fezident]

Something that always bothers me, is when people have a silly opinion about something, and defend themselves by saying "it's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it."

I do not agree with that.
I don't think that everyone's opinion is valid.


I have a friend (Keli) who has never met my current girlfriend (Liz). She has also never met another friend of mine named Julie.

Keli looked at Facebook pix of both Liz and Julie, and said "wow, they look alike."
These two girls look nothing alike, so I said "no they don't". And she replied "well, TO ME.. they do."
I said "you're wrong. Feature for feature, these girls have nothing in common. Different coloring. Different height. Different vibe. Different sense of style. No similarities at all."

Of course, this made Keli angry and she simply repeated "IT'S MY OPINION! EVERY ONE IS ENTITLED TO AN OPINION, AND THIS ONE IS MINE!" etc etc.
Well, I don't think that should be a valid statement.

How much two people look alike is a quantifiable thing. The distance between their eyes, the size of the lips, how tan/pale they are, etc etc. This is not opinion. These are facts.
Also, I think that fact that I intimately know both of these women should give my opinion more validity than Keli... who hasn't met either of the two women we were comparing.

If I said "I think Cyndi Lauper and Jessica Alba look alike.", that would be my opinion but, that doesn't make it so.


I think this carries over to music, movies, food, anything. If somebody said "The Hottie And The Nottie is the greatest film of all time!", that opinion is worthless. It simply isn't a well made movie on any level. There are quantifiable ways to measure how good or not good a movie is, and that movie doesn't meet those standards.


My point is, all opinions are not equal... and in a lot of ways, opinions could be considered an actual fact. So, where did this notion of "everyone's opinion has a value" come from? And why is everyone "entitled" to have one?

We need to rethink this whole sense-of-entitlement thing.

[Dude!]

My point is, all opinions are not equal...

your opinion is wrong

[fezident]

your opinion is wrong

your grammar is amazing

[Dude!]

your grammar is amazing

i don't get it

[JimBeam]

I disagree.

2 people can look at the same piece of art and have different opinions on it.

Just because the artist who created it has the vision to see it doesn't mean another person will see that same thing.

Literature also.

If both girls have 1 nose, 2 eyes, a mouth, etc ... you could say they do look similar no ?

[Chigworthy]

Your mushing two things together, and in the process, you have joined the thought police, maaaan.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; it's private property and someone else can't control it.

Is everyone's opinion accurate? Not always; if the opinion contradicts facts that are generally accepted to be true, then it would be inaccurate. It doesn't mean they aren't entitled to it.

Your example, in my opinion, is not necessarily quantifiable. You state that the physical aspects of someone's face can be measured and the similarities of their appearance based on these facts. This is true, but what are your personal tolerances for comparing the distance between two people's eyes? They are based on your own unique life experience and are an average based upon your own perceptions. It's likely that you didn't actually get a scale out and quantify the different measurements of the two people's faces, which would be innacurate anyway, due to differences in cameras, lighting, distance from the subject to the camera, etc. And if you had, you would have to have an average quantification of all human beings to compare the results to. And even then, you would have to enter your own opinion into it to develop tolerances to define what is similar and what is dissimilar.

For example, someone who spent their entire life around solely black people, might see two images of the same person, with the only difference being in one image, the person's skin is their natural color, and the other image is digitally enhanced to show the skin a completely different color, and think that the images showed two people who looked completely different. If you showed the same images to a plastic surgeon in New York, the surgeon might think that the people looked almost identical.

And don't forget, you guys were actually talking about how similar the people looked in their photographs, since Keli has never met them in real life. The fact that you intimately know the two people in the images, and Keli doesn't, means that you have more data about how they look in person, and your perceptions regarding the two images are actually clouded by your real-life experience with them. Your mind is able to fill in the gaps with your own memory of how the people look in person, and Keli is basing her opinion on just the photographs.

The beauty of sentience is that we all can and do see the world through our own lens. So next time, don't get all commie on the poor girl, and agree to disagree.

[Aggie]

useless without pics

[JerseyRich]

Artie Lange is a fine upstanding member of society.

[TripleSkeet]

An opinion cannot be wrong. Sorry. Thats what makes it an opinion.

o⋅pin⋅ion  /əˈpɪnyən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-pin-yuhn] Show IPA
Use opinion in a Sentence
See web results for opinion
See images of opinion
–noun
1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

[A.J.]

"Oh, here comes Fezident with his o-pin-ion."

[EliSnow]

Your mushing two things together, and in the process, you have joined the thought police, maaaan.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; it's private property and someone else can't control it.

Is everyone's opinion accurate? Not always; if the opinion contradicts facts that are generally accepted to be true, then it would be inaccurate. It doesn't mean they aren't entitled to it.

Your example, in my opinion, is not necessarily quantifiable. You state that the physical aspects of someone's face can be measured and the similarities of their appearance based on these facts. This is true, but what are your personal tolerances for comparing the distance between two people's eyes? They are based on your own unique life experience and are an average based upon your own perceptions. It's likely that you didn't actually get a scale out and quantify the different measurements of the two people's faces, which would be innacurate anyway, due to differences in cameras, lighting, distance from the subject to the camera, etc. And if you had, you would have to have an average quantification of all human beings to compare the results to. And even then, you would have to enter your own opinion into it to develop tolerances to define what is similar and what is dissimilar.

For example, someone who spent their entire life around solely black people, might see two images of the same person, with the only difference being in one image, the person's skin is their natural color, and the other image is digitally enhanced to show the skin a completely different color, and think that the images showed two people who looked completely different. If you showed the same images to a plastic surgeon in New York, the surgeon might think that the people looked almost identical.

And don't forget, you guys were actually talking about how similar the people looked in their photographs, since Keli has never met them in real life. The fact that you intimately know the two people in the images, and Keli doesn't, means that you have more data about how they look in person, and your perceptions regarding the two images are actually clouded by your real-life experience with them. Your mind is able to fill in the gaps with your own memory of how the people look in person, and Keli is basing her opinion on just the photographs.

The beauty of sentience is that we all can and do see the world through our own lens. So next time, don't get all commie on the poor girl, and agree to disagree.

I agree with the above. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that doesn't mean that each person's opinion has equal validity. For instance, in litigating a case, expert opinion is often used. But part of evaluating the opinion provided by the experts is to determine whether their process is scientifically accpepted, their credentials, etc. If an expert bases their opinion on an unsound process, the judge is likely to not be swayed by that opinion and adopt the opinion of the expert whose process was sound.

An opinion cannot be wrong. Sorry. Thats what makes it an opinion.

o⋅pin⋅ion  /əˈpɪnyən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-pin-yuhn] Show IPA
Use opinion in a Sentence
See web results for opinion
See images of opinion
–noun
1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

A lot of times people use the terms opinion for beliefs that are rested on grounds that can be proven or disproven with certainty. So in those instance, the opinions can be wrong.

Again, going back to my example, if an expert witness says it's his opinion that a car crash was the result of a product defect, but his process in reaching that opinion was wrong (the product he analyzed was not the product involved in the crash), then his opinion is.

Now often you have subjective opinions that cannot be right or wrong. An opinion that someone is beautiful is a subjective one that isn't right or wrong. That's different than an opinion as to a fact that could be proven or disproven.

[FUNKMAN]

i'll just say when you have children, different people will have different opinions about which parent or grandparent they look like. and the opinion of that same person can actually change at different times. could be an expression, or a hairstyle that changes it...

situational but peoples opinions should be respected... cause you know what they say

opinions are like assholes, everyone has one...

[fezident]

Interesting stuff, Chig.

I'll even concede that everyone is "allowed" to FORM an opinion. But... as per your examples, our context COULD morph our opinions into facts.
An expert examiner sees a thousand crimescenes a year. He knows what to look for. I do not. If I saw a dead body in an alley and said " I think this was a suicide", that would be my opinion. The examiner would notice all kinds of blood spatter and cast-off, and other factors and say "nope, this was a homicide." And, he'd be right. His context and knowledge shapes his opinion.

Am I ENTITLED to say what I said? Yeah. Sure. Why not? But simply having an opinion, in this case, is worthless. My opinion has less value. I am wrong.
So... couldn't the same be said for the fight between me and Keli? I have more knowledge than she did about the topic at hand. She had less knowledge. Therefore, I am the "expert".


No?


EDIT:
just saw Eli's post. Same stuff...

[Dougie Brootal]

My opinion has less value. I am wrong.

modquote?

[hydee]

It's my opinion that this is the stupidest thing to get angry about. Tell Keli to take a pill or something.

[sailor]

I think they look a lot alike.

[Chigworthy]

Interesting stuff, Chig.

I'll even concede that everyone is "allowed" to FORM an opinion. But... as per your examples, our context COULD morph our opinions into facts.
An expert examiner sees a thousand crimescenes a year. He knows what to look for. I do not. If I saw a dead body in an alley and said " I think this was a suicide", that would be my opinion. The examiner would notice all kinds of blood spatter and cast-off, and other factors and say "nope, this was a homicide." And, he'd be right. His context and knowledge shapes his opinion.

Am I ENTITLED to say what I said? Yeah. Sure. Why not? But simply having an opinion, in this case, is worthless. My opinion has less value. I am wrong.
So... couldn't the same be said for the fight between me and Keli? I have more knowledge than she did about the topic at hand. She had less knowledge. Therefore, I am the "expert".


No?


EDIT:
just saw Eli's post. Same stuff...

You are the expert in how the two people look in person by default; Keli has never met them. But no one can be the expert on comparing the images of the two people, as that is subjective, and interestingly, your opinion on the similarities between the photos is the least pure because you are applying your personal experience of knowing the two people. You could show a nice handsome picture of Ted Bundy to an impartial person who had no knowledge of his deeds, and they would likely think he was an attractive young man. Show the exact same photo to one of his victims that lives, and they will see the embodiment of evil, because they had personal experience with him in person.

[SinA]

An opinion cannot be wrong. Sorry. Thats what makes it an opinion.

o⋅pin⋅ion  /əˈpɪnyən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-pin-yuhn] Show IPA
Use opinion in a Sentence
See web results for opinion
See images of opinion
–noun
1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

but you could say... if that's your opinion, you are crazy.

[EliSnow]

Interesting stuff, Chig.

I'll even concede that everyone is "allowed" to FORM an opinion. But... as per your examples, our context COULD morph our opinions into facts.
An expert examiner sees a thousand crimescenes a year. He knows what to look for. I do not. If I saw a dead body in an alley and said " I think this was a suicide", that would be my opinion. The examiner would notice all kinds of blood spatter and cast-off, and other factors and say "nope, this was a homicide." And, he'd be right. His context and knowledge shapes his opinion.

Am I ENTITLED to say what I said? Yeah. Sure. Why not? But simply having an opinion, in this case, is worthless. My opinion has less value. I am wrong.
So... couldn't the same be said for the fight between me and Keli? I have more knowledge than she did about the topic at hand. She had less knowledge. Therefore, I am the "expert".


No?


EDIT:
just saw Eli's post. Same stuff...

I don't think it's the exact same stuff.

Whether two people look similar is a much more subjective thing than an expert opinion as to whether someone died via homicide or suicide. After all, whether that person was killed or committed suicide is a factual thing. If there was a witness watching it, he could attest to it. There is a "truth" to be reached. The expert is just looking at evidence and reaching an opinion as to what the "truth" is.

That's different from whether someone looks similar. When I see Bobby Flay, he reminds me of my wife's brother. But my wife isn't seeing it. Neither of us is really wrong. Bobby Flay is similar in some ways, and much different in others.

[sailor]

Like, practically sisters.

[fezident]

Eli,
Hmmm... you used the word "truth".
I hadn't thought of that. Now I'm wondering if I'm confusing "truth" with "fact".

There's a subtle difference there.

Meaning; it's TRUE that all murderers (probably) ate breakfast on the morning they murdered somebody. But it isn't a FACT that "breakfast causes people to commit murder".

Somehow, and I'm not sure how, that ties in to this debate about opinions.
Like... it's Keli's TRUTH that Liz and Julie look alike but, the FACT is... the two girls are not physically similar. That kinda thing.

Very interesting.

[EliSnow]

Eli,
Hmmm... you used the word "truth".
I hadn't thought of that. Now I'm wondering if I'm confusing "truth" with "fact".

There's a subtle difference there.

Meaning; it's TRUE that all murderers (probably) ate breakfast on the morning they murdered somebody. But it isn't a FACT that "breakfast causes people to commit murder".

Somehow, and I'm not sure how, that ties in to this debate about opinions.
Like... it's Keli's TRUTH that Liz and Julie look alike but, the FACT is... the two girls are not physically similar. That kinda thing.

Very interesting.

No, in my post, truth and fact are the same thing. The victim was either killed or committed suicide. Both can't be true, or a fact.

The problem is that in the situation provided, no one knows from first hand testimony what the truth/fact of the death is. So the expert forms an opinion as to the truth/fact based upon other evidence.

When you have a subjective thing, like similarity of faces, there is less of a provable truth/fact to be established.


In other words, if you are making an opinion about an objective fact, that opinion could be right or wrong. If you are making an opinion about a subjective "fact" (for lack of a better term), I don't know if you could say it's right or wrong.

You may state an opinion that is less commonly held, but it's not wrong. Like saying that Carrot Top is funny. A lot of people may think he's not funny, but an opinion about it is not right or wrong.