# To those with strong opinions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701 "2006-09-14T15:53:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heckxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@Heckxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckxx)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/1 "2006-09-14T15:53:53Z")
If you ever hear someone say something…if you ever see something on tv…if you ever hear a story about something… …and it just seems so blatantly ridiculous, so blatantly wrong, so blatantly ignorant, so blatantly stupid, that you immediately oppose it… …just STOP and think about it. Chances are you may as well be just as ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/2 "2006-09-14T15:56:23Z")
Example? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/3 "2006-09-14T15:58:46Z")
[QUOTE=Heckxx] Chances are you may as well be just as ignorant. [/QUOTE] That’s a very strong opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/4 "2006-09-14T16:01:35Z")
No. When people tell me that the Universe is 6,000 years old, that we never landed on the moon, That the holocaust never happened, that the U.S. government blew up the WTC, that the government created AIDS, that the CIA killed Kennedy, or any one of hundreds of other bad ideas; I am not just as ignorant as them. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/5 "2006-09-14T16:04:04Z")
Why? What blatantly ridiculous notion do you espouse which you’d like us to think about? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/6 "2006-09-14T16:45:21Z")
[QUOTE=Heckxx] If you ever hear someone say something..if you ever see something on tv..if you ever hear a story about something.. …and it just seems so blatantly ridiculous, so blatantly wrong, so blatantly ignorant, so blatantly stupid, that you immediately oppose it… …just STOP and think about it. Chances are you may as well be just as ignorant. [/QUOTE] Heck, even when the perspectives seem only mildly ridiculous, wrong only in the final analysis, deceptively ignorant, or stupid in parts, I try to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Heckxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@Heckxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckxx)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/7 "2006-09-14T18:03:43Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] That’s a very strong opinion. [/QUOTE] Haha, I thought someone might say that. But I usually believe that a statement doesn’t have to apply to itself. [QUOTE=Larry Borgia] No. When people tell me that the Universe is 6,000 years old, that we never landed on the moon, That the holocaust never happened, that the U.S. government blew up the WTC, that the government created AIDS, that the CIA killed Kennedy, or any one of hundreds of other bad ideas; I am not just as ignorant as them. [/QUOTE] Even if the chance of those people being wrong is nearly 100%, you can never truly NEVER consider their case. Although their final point may be obviously wrong, there is at least the smallest grain of truth in their supporting facts and arguments. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/8 "2006-09-14T18:11:20Z")
[QUOTE=Heckxx] If you ever hear someone say something..if you ever see something on tv..if you ever hear a story about something.. …and it just seems so blatantly ridiculous, so blatantly wrong, so blatantly ignorant, so blatantly stupid, that you immediately oppose it… …just STOP and think about it. Chances are you may as well be just as ignorant. [/QUOTE] Unless of course you have already heard the so blatantly ridiculous, so blatantly wrong, so blatantly ignorant, so blatantly stupid statement before and looked into it and found it to actually be as stupid as you initially perceived it. Lets just say as an example; almost anything Pat Robertson has ever said. So any point at all to your Op? Not that you need one, this is MPSIMS. It seems like you want to “lead” us somewhere with your Op. Additionally ignorant and willing to learn is a fine state, willfully ignorant is not. Jim ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/9 "2006-09-14T18:19:24Z")
I have a large penis. ---
**Author:** ![little\_bit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@little\_bit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/little_bit)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/10 "2006-09-14T18:31:16Z")
Would this include the argument I got into with a Fundamentalist Christian who insisted Jesus was not Jewish? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/11 "2006-09-14T18:34:24Z")
[QUOTE=Heckxx] Although their final point may be obviously wrong, there is at least the smallest grain of truth in their supporting facts and arguments. [/QUOTE] Sorry, but no. Sometimes wrong is wrong with no truth except truthiness. ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/12 "2006-09-14T18:35:21Z")
Oh wow… Have you ever looked at your hand? I mean REALLY looked at your hand? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/13 "2006-09-14T18:46:03Z")
Why do they call them fingers? I mean, I never seen 'em _fing_…oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/14 "2006-09-14T18:50:02Z")
[QUOTE=LabRat] Oh wow… Have you ever looked at your hand? I mean REALLY looked at your hand? [/QUOTE] Dude, I like had a friend do that once and like he got lost, I mean really lost. He like wandered off into a wolverine den or something. It was a wicked bad trip. Wait, what was I talking about? Is Dave here? -Chong- ---
**Author:** ![Heckxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@Heckxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckxx)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/15 "2006-09-14T20:38:02Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Sorry, but no. Sometimes wrong is wrong with no truth except truthiness. [/QUOTE] Not to say that it’s always practical, but I can always find some objection (albeit a small one) to the most trivial of universally accepted truths and facts. For example, you could say that 1 + 1 = 2. We all pretty much agree on that one. If you hear someone else SERIOUSLY say that, “1 + 1 does not equal two”, many of us would object immediately. However, what about these cases? 1 + 1 = 1 (boolean algebra) 1 + 1 = 10 (binary algebra) These are in fact “true” statements. [QUOTE=LabRat] Oh wow… Have you ever looked at your hand? I mean REALLY looked at your hand? [/QUOTE] I’m assuming you were joking around..but actually, if you really do look at your hand carefully..you probably will notice something about it that you’ve never thought about before. Because the hand is something that seems so fundamentally simple, we never take the time to examine or think about it. We just use it instintively. Maybe you’ve never really noticed how many dark lines are on the insides of your fingers, for example. And that there almost seems to be a later of different line patterns on top of each other. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/16 "2006-09-14T20:47:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Because the hand is something that seems so fundamentally simple, we never take the time to examine or think about it. We just use it instintively. Wrong! Some of us look at our hands all the time > [@](#): > > Maybe you’ve never really noticed how many dark lines are on the insides of your fingers, for example. Okay, you’ve got me there. I’ve never looked at the insides of my fingers. It’d be a bit too bloody for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/17 "2006-09-14T20:48:54Z")
[QUOTE=Heckxx] Haha, I thought someone might say that. But I usually believe that a statement doesn’t have to apply to itself. [/QUOTE] I ususally believe onions are sentient beings, although not today, because it’s thursday. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/18 "2006-09-14T20:52:07Z")
Educators altered your mind. You cannot think opposite of what you were taught to think. You have a cyclop perspective and taught android mentality = lobotomized analytical ability. The entity you seek is death. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/19 "2006-09-14T20:57:41Z")
[QUOTE=Heckxx] For example, you could say that 1 + 1 = 2. We all pretty much agree on that one. If you hear someone else SERIOUSLY say that, “1 + 1 does not equal two”, many of us would object immediately. However, what about these cases? 1 + 1 = 1 (boolean algebra) 1 + 1 = 10 (binary algebra) These are in fact “true” statements. [/QUOTE] The title of your OP is “To those with strong opinions.” The example you cited above is not an opinion, it’s a fact. Try again. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701/20 "2006-09-14T21:48:57Z")
‘It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.’ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-those-with-strong-opinions/372701.md?page=2)