Quote of the Week: Differing Opinions

We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us – Francois de La Rochefoucauld

This La Rochefoucauld is an idiot. I totally disagree with him. He has no idea what he is talking about. He has no good sense whatsoever. Wait a second, now I get. This man is a genius!

It’s only natural that if someone disagrees with me, they are therefore wrong, and therefore an idiot, not for disagreeing with me, because that would make me arrogant, but rather for being wrong, because it’s only right that if someone is wrong in opinion they are stupid. I think that’s how many people justify calling people idiots for disagreeing with them. I’ve heard many a conversation where this phrase takes place: ‘I’m not calling you stupid for disagreeing with me. I’m calling you stupid because you’re wrong.’ And sometimes that will be extended to, ‘if I were wrong I’d be calling myself stupid too.’ Of course this is where the whole fault in opinions takes place. A person would never have to call themselves stupid because a person would never believe something they thought was wrong. If the person believed something they thought was wrong why would they believe it? Well I believe there are people who claim to believe things they really don’t think are right, and generally the motivation behind that is money (Bill O’Reilly) or attention (Bill O’Reilly). But talking about that is a whole other thing in and of itself. I’m talking about people who really believe what they say they believe and therefore find other people who disagree with them to be wrong and stupid. It’s only natural that we think people who are wrong are stupid. If you asked someone who the first president of the United States was and they said Jesus H Christ we’d all point and laugh at the person and then the person would run home crying, masturbate and then lie in bed for weeks wishing they had a bigger penis – no, that’s not based on a real life experience. Of course that example is using a factual question, whereas most disputes take place over the matter of opinions. But as we all know people take their own opinions to be factual. The prime example is religion. These religious people think what they believe in is right, and they have no doubt about it. And many people criticize them for it. I happen to be one of those people because I think religion is stupid, but it’s only natural that they believe in it so strongly because how can you as a person believe in something if it wasn’t right? If you knew you were wrong wouldn’t you change your opinion to the right one? Can you think of any opinions you have that are wrong? Of course not, because if you had any opinions that you thought were really wrong you would have changed them by now. Of course that’s just my opinion, and since I figure all my opinions are wrong, you must have many opinions you believe in that you really think are wrong. Anyway, my point is, or rather what I think my point is, because I’m not sure, is that people look at their opinions as factual because they wouldn’t believe in them if they didn’t think they were right, or at least the best of all possible opinions, and therefore when someone disagrees with them it’s like they’re disagreeing on what each other thinks is a fact and that’s why everybody considers everybody else an idiot. And of course after reading this you should consider me an idiot.

I personally make it a point to willingly know that all my opinions are wrong. Well how can I have wrong opinions knowing they are wrong? Wouldn’t I just change them to opinions I thought were right? Nope, because, once again, I am an idiot.