Opinion

I realized a few months ago, during a rather unproductive debate about homosexuality, what the average university student means by “strong opinion”. It’s an opinion that you actually think is true, at the expense of other opinions contradicting it. Regular-strength opinions are those to which you have some attachment, but for which you don’t have or want a rational account. Since they make no claims about real truth and falsehood, they’re impervious to any arguments supporting the truth of an opposing strong opinion. Ironically, that means you can cling to a regular opinion much more strongly than to a strong one. The marketing is flawless: “Opinion 2.0. Start generating low maintenance, energy efficient personal views TODAY! Just as easy to act on as the original, but requiring only 10% the time and effort! Opinion 2.0 – Outsource your intellect.”