All Opinions Are Not Equal!

[JTH]

This link goes to an article that is third in my series about various thoughts that resulted from taking the Instructor Development course from Tom Givens last year. At some point in time, pretty much everyone who wants to learn effective self-defense with a firearm takes a class somewhere, and has to choose an instructor.  In a similar fashion, everyone starts as a newbie to firearms, and when asking questions, get a LOT of various answers from random people.  So...

The slide above is one I saw at his Instructor development course, and I've been meaning to write something up about it for quite some time.  Recently, I found out that he used it (and discussed it) at this year's just-finished up Tactical Conference, so I thought this would be a good time.

https://precisionresponse.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/what-makes-an-expert/

(The other two from the series are linked at the bottom of the article, if you haven't read them.)

I posted this link on Facebook, and immediately got an angry comment from someone calling me a pompous ass for DARING to say that people how have no education, training, or experience in a technical field shouldn't expect anyone to listen to or care about their opinion.

How dare I! 



I'll note that prior to anyone going off on me for saying that everyone isn't entitled to an opinion, or being mad because I am saying that all people's opinions aren't equally valid---you might take a deep breath, read the entire article, and think about it before saying anything.

Most people AREN'T entitled to opinions about technical fields, because in technical fields, most people do not have education, training, or experience.  Their made-up opinions (literally, they are guessing based on "what they've heard" because they have no education, training, or experience) are meaningless, and should be ignored when attempting to make decisions and come to conclusions.

This will not stop people from saying things like "everyone should be able to have opinions, they have a right to have an opinion" of course...

....why do you think people have "right" to an opinion in a field in which they know nothing?  Shouldn't they literally have a responsibility to NOT have an opinion, since they have no idea?

(I note that I expect arguments about the usage of the words"entitled" and "opinion" which don't really address the actual topic of the article.)

[Tj]

   I am not entitled to an opinion so I am not allowed to say anything, lol. To me the language would seem to close the door on education and learning. Everyone has an opinion, or they say I don't know. There is just to many bull****ers out there that spread around misinformation.
   An apprentice would have an opinion where a journeyman might say no you have to do it this way. While  a master would say what are you numbskulls doing. Well the journeyman and apprentice have a false opinion, but an opinion they both have. The master listens to this false opinion shakes his head and chuckles. Then he explains why it is wrong and shows the correct way. That is when it is time to shut up and listen.
   The problem lies in who do you believe? You don't know what you don't know and the more you learn the more you realize you don't know. You need critical thinking skills to determine to the best of your ability what sounds right, or you take the word of someone else as gospel.
   Anyways, I don't spout off opinions when I don't know and I shut up and listen when someone is trying to teach me something I want to learn. Also, I get tired of people talking about stuff they don't know about and spreading misinformation. I would have to agree with what is basically being said.

[OnTheFly]

One of the biggest problems, IMHO, is that television and the media in general screw up peoples knowledge with misinformation. Really, it isn't all their fault, because those who know nothing about the subject will completely believe what Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc is telling them. This has been a source of disagreement between my wife and myself. The "news" presented "facts" about an aviation situation. Upon hearing this fodder, I immediately knew that it was wrong. I told my wife how ridiculous it was and she argued with me about it. Sigh. I'm ONLY a pilot with 34 years of experience and nearly 10,000 hours of flying. But hey...what do I know, right?

I try to keep this in mind whenever I read/hear something. My intent is to initially have a very skeptical approach until I know what the facts truly are, OR I try to ask someone else I know who might have a better understanding. I can't tell you how many times people come up to me and say "What do you think happened to flight xxxx? I heard they xxxx, and that xxxx did xxxx". I always tell them it is WAY too early to be jumping to conclusions. Especially when all of our information is coming from the media. Remember the pilots named "Sum Ting Wong," "Wi Tu Lo," "Xx Xss Xxx," and "Bang Ding Ow."? Yeah...you can completely trust the media.

Maybe, kinda, sorta related to what you are saying. If not, disregard and carry on.

Fly

[JTH]

   I am not entitled to an opinion so I am not allowed to say anything, lol. To me the language would seem to close the door on education and learning.

Isn't it more like "Get some education and learning, and then you can talk about your opinion"?

Everyone has an opinion, or they say I don't know. There is just to many bull****ers out there that spread around misinformation.

Agreed.

Actually, when I first saw the slide and Tom started talking about it, other than going "YEAH!" my first thought was "People are going to argue that people have rights to opinions and that you can't stop people from having opinions, and that one semantic/phrasing detail is going to derail all the good conversation about what he MEANS, which is that you shouldn't listen to people about a technical field who don't have education, training, or experience in a technical field, and people who don't have those things shouldn't think that their opinion should matter."

Like I said, when I posted it originally, it took all of 5 minutes or so before I got my first argument post on Facebook about precisely that, that "people had a right to have an opinion."   

An apprentice would have an opinion where a journeyman might say no you have to do it this way. While  a master would say what are you numbskulls doing. Well the journeyman and apprentice have a false opinion, but an opinion they both have. The master listens to this false opinion shakes his head and chuckles. Then he explains why it is wrong and shows the correct way. That is when it is time to shut up and listen.

Wouldn't it have been easier for the apprentice to ask a question instead of stating an opinion?

...but again, this is a semantic argument, when the point really is that people who don't have education, training, or experience in a technical field shouldn't expect their opinion to matter or be listened to by others which they all too often do.

In this case, the journeyman's opinion IS something that should be discussed.  He may be wrong, but his opinion is at least based on something.  The apprentice should ask questions, the journeyman should give opinions, and they both should listen critically to what is said by other people who may have more education, training, and experience.  (Which isn't to say that the master is automatically right, and the journeyman should automatically take his words as gospel.)

The problem lies in who do you believe? You don't know what you don't know and the more you learn the more you realize you don't know. You need critical thinking skills to determine to the best of your ability what sounds right, or you take the word of someone else as gospel.

Absolutely.  No matter who says it, you should never automatically believe something someone says---critical thinking is important.

Anyways, I don't spout off opinions when I don't know and I shut up and listen when someone is trying to teach me something I want to learn. Also, I get tired of people talking about stuff they don't know about and spreading misinformation. I would have to agree with what is basically being said.

I wish more people thought that way.  Of course, if they did, Rob Pincus would be out of a job, and the news media would be ignored...

[Mudinyeri]

You're entitled to your opinion.

[JTH]

You're entitled to your opinion.

That is LITERALLY what I expected you to say! 

[Mudinyeri]

That is LITERALLY what I expected you to say! 

I figured as much.  (I try not to disappoint.)

[JTH]

Ralph Mroz liked my article!

That makes me pretty happy, because while I don't always agree with him, I DO think he tends to think very critically, logically, and realistically about things.

Even better, after reading my article, he and Tom Givens got together to talk about some followup questions!

I wrote about it a bit, and this link also contains a link back to HIS article.

https://precisionresponse.wordpress.com/2016/06/02/ralph-mroz-liked-my-article/