Can An Opinion Be Wrong?

Spongebob meme

Go to the comments section of any viral post on Facebook and you’re bound to see people arguing. It doesn’t matter what the topic is, there will always be people passionately defending their opinions. It’s great that they have a say in things, but it’s scary when people act as if their opinions are facts.

The thing about opinions is that they’re based on a person’s experience, preference, and perspective. It’s not necessarily based on data. A good example is pineapples on pizza. Some people love it, some don’t. They are all correct because there is no study proving that pineapple does or does not belong on pizza. All arguments are based on preferences. Their thoughts on this are opinions.

Let’s look at another example. Let’s take depression. There are people who think that those suffering from this are just making it up and overreacting. They also say that those who take their lives are weak. However, there are studies that prove that apart from stressful life events, depression is affected by nerve cell connections, nerve cell growth, and the functioning of nerve circuits. Science backs this up with cold, hard evidence.

The opinion that “depression is not real” is no longer valid since there is research proving that it is.

thanks for sharing 7yg027

It’s true that everyone is entitled to an opinion. And it’s what makes life beautiful because we learn so much from other people who offer different points of view. But if your opinion is corrected by science and evidence, you should be open to changing it. And just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean you can’t be challenged.

Looking at the comments section on Facebook is great if you want to learn something new. Engage at your own risk, though.