an online book by David Gurteen
An opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is not conclusive, rather than facts, which are true statements.
Credit: Wikipedia - opinionPeople have some crazy opinions. Generally, these are the opinions that we disagree with. The standard view in both academia and the wider culture is that people have such opinions due to knowledge deficits; they are lacking information. On this view, providing information and critical reasoning skills is the best way to get opinions to … Continue reading People Have Some Crazy Opinions Steven Sloman
Did you know that it’s actually possible for you to say “I don’t know enough about this to have an opinion”. Credit: Richard Feynman Posts where this quotation is embedded Analyze Assumptions and Biases Probe the assumptions and biases that might be embedded in a chatbot’s responses Are There Any Questions? Q&A is not interaction Avoid Anonymity Anonymity … Continue reading It’s OK Not to Have an Opinion Richard Feynman
Gurteen Knowledge Blog June 30, 2023, 10:15I sometimes have conversations with people who don’t know much about a topic I’ve studied in depth. However, they still hold strong opinions about it and have a clear narrative to support their viewpoint. We are all susceptible to this phenomenon, but what is its underlying mechanism? We often encounter … Continue reading How We Construct Our Unfounded Beliefs And false narratives
If we don’t have an opinion, we should say so: In our modern-day culture, it is almost illegal not to have an opinion on an issue, regardless of whether we know anything about it or not. Confident ignorant people argue with equally convinced ignorant people. We all do it. In the UK, for example, how … Continue reading Say So, If We Don’t Have an Opinion It’s perfectly OK to say ‘Sorry, I don’t know’
Speak last: If you wish to know the opinions of others genuinely, then listen to them before you express your views. Learn To Be The Last To Speak | Simon Sinek I think Simon Sinek’s message is spot on though not everyone agrees. When practicing Conversational Leadership, if you wish to genuinely know the opinions … Continue reading Speak Last Learn to be the last to speak
Speak with less conviction: Persuading others is not easy. It is generally believed that we convince others by speaking with conviction. Is this effective? No, it isn’t. We shouldn’t speak with too much conviction if we want to persuade people. In this blog post by Nancy Dixon, Bringing the Flow of Knowledge to a Standstill … Continue reading Speak with Less Conviction Speaking with conviction inhibits learning
I have my views. Some I hold firmly, some I do not. All of them, every one of them, I am open to being questioned about. And I reserve the right to change my opinion. We all have views, our perspectives, our biases. I am no exception. The key thing to note in my writing and … Continue reading Hold Strong Opinions Weakly ** I have no doctrine, I carry on a dialogue
