# What are your most unpopular opinions? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645 "2013-04-14T00:24:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/381 "2013-04-23T20:20:32Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Not remarkably unpopular, but: I think most Asian martial arts, marketed to kids and parents alike as being for self-defence, are completely bullshit and do more harm than good in giving kids a false sense of security. Mixed martial arts competitions like UFC have just confirmed that. Out of the eight current UFC male champions, across all weight classes, 100% of them to my count are experts in a form of boxing, whether Thai or Western, with a good dose of wrestling of one form or another thrown in. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the only non-boxing Asian-derived martial art that figures. No Karate, no Japanese Judo, no Taekwondo, etc. The message seems pretty clear — want do learn to defend yourself? Learn to box or wrestle. I do agree with you in principle, but UFC lightweight champion [Benson Henderson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benson_Henderson)does have a black belt in Taekwondo. Yes, his amateur wrestling background may be more relevant, but this is the Dope. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/382 "2013-04-23T22:29:32Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I can piss people off worse than you even though my ideas are roughly the opposite. The whole point of marriage, and even life, is to produce successful biological offspring. Adopting kids is just a surrogate for that and certainly a worthwhile endeavour for the kids who need it but it is a biological and evolutionary failure. except that modern medical care means that people who would naturally be dead- either from health issues or their own behavior- are kept alive to procreate. We’ve basically done an end-run around that whole “natural selection” thing and I don’t know if we’re better off for it. > [@Renifer](#): > > Self esteem is important. Take it from someone who doesn’t have any. It’s a hell of a lot harder to get along in the world without it. Our way of getting kids to develop self esteem is sometimes wrong or misguided but self esteem is important. I agree in part; self-esteem is valuable if it comes from one’s own accomplishments or abilities and not just from having one’s own ego fluffed since birth. ---
**Author:** ![EverwonderWhy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EverwonderWhy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EverwonderWhy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/383 "2013-04-24T00:34:14Z")
Oral contraceptives should be available OTC. Drive throughs should be banned. Child tax credits should be limited to two, but I would compromise at three. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/384 "2013-04-24T00:42:10Z")
Most of the posts in this thread suck, and here’s why: (a) many of the opinions posted on this thread are in fact, not unpopular at all (b) many others are arguably unpopular among the population as a whole but common on the SDMB, which I think is a pretty cheap way to go about posting in this thraed © many of the claims in this thread are not just opinions but objective claims about the world which have massive gaping instantly obvious logical flaws, but which get a free pass because they’re claiming to be just opinions, and who has the energy to actually refute them? (d) some posts are opinions expressed in an extreme or hyperbolic fashion, such as “religion should be illegal”. Do you actually, honestly, truly and literally believe that the US (assuming you’re talking about the US, as that’s the SDMB default) would be better off right now if religion were made illegal? If priests and rabbis were rounded up and literally put in jail if they attempted to teach their beliefs? Because if you do, you’re an idiot. If you don’t, then you’re a troll. And I’d like to know which of those two you are so as to mock you appropriately. (And I’m an atheist who is pretty scornful of organized religion.) (e) a somewhat similar type of post, albeit on a vastly smaller scale, is one which attempts to ascribe objective reality to an opinion about some artistic/cultural work. Many such posts are in this thread, and I find them either overpoweringly arrogant or trollish. Again, it’s hard to tell which are which. (f) another category of suck is posts which use the word “should” without providing context. By “should” do you mean “there should be a law”? Seriously? A literal law? Do you mean “we would be better off if society provided pressure in this direction, as it does against some things”? Do you mean “we would be better off if fewer people did this thing, but it should be each individual person’s choice”? (g) posts suck when they make claims about a large group, but leave ambiguous whether they mean ALL, MOST, MANY or just “my statement applies to more members of this group than the population as a whole” (h) And finally, a few of these posts suck because they leave me really really curious to know more. You think slavery isn’t all that bad? Please explicate! That’s fucking fascinating. Horrifying, but fascinating, and you have left me unsatisfied. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/385 "2013-04-24T00:43:34Z")
I don’t think _Firefly_ was all that great. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/386 "2013-04-24T01:25:43Z")
This’ll be crazy unpopular here; I think people who choose not to have children will end up disappointed, unhappy, and lonely, and won’t really get nearly enough out of life that it has to offer. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/387 "2013-04-24T01:35:28Z")
Here’s a rather controversial one: I oppose no-fault divorce laws for the reason that it is much more of a threat to monogamous marriage then gay marriage ever is or was. ---
**Author:** ![DaisyOlive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DaisyOlive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaisyOlive)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/388 "2013-04-24T01:43:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Being a GLBT teenager, a breast cancer survivor, or the mother of an autistic child doesn’t either. > > And being the mother of an autistic child does not make your poop stink-free, either. > > (do we have a “flameproof shield” smiley?) No should bring up any illnesses they have unless asked or in a doctor’s office/hospital. I’m so tired of people telling me they have some terminal illness or beat some other illness. I just want to do my errands in peace. I’m always at the grocery store or bank when these people share these things with me. If someone has a problem and you say “Well, I have/had” above mentioned illnessed, you’re an ASSHOLE. Seriously, suffering is not finite. You can cancer, aids, and the flesh eating disease and other people can still be in some type of physical and/or emotional pain. Having kids doesn’t make you more worthy for a job. “We should hire John over James, John has a family/kids”. I pick James. He’s the better worker and smart enough not to have a shit load of kids he can’t support. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/389 "2013-04-24T02:42:07Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Most of the posts in this thread suck, and here’s why: Damn, that is one unpopular opinion. For the record, I don’t think that most people were trolling. Most of us honestly believe what we are saying even if we know our beliefs could never be enacted. I know that most of mine were like that. There are lots of people that believe extreme things and aren’t normally given a forum to express them. Many of them conflict with each other and even within a given person’s own real-life behavior but I don’t think there is anything wrong with giving a forum to opinions that can’t be safely expressed in real life or even in other threads. I think it shows why moderation and not radicalism on most views is a great thing overall however. I started a related thread once called [What are your most extreme, honestly held views?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638634). I put a strict rule about not trolling in place in the OP and people still outdid themselves with radical ideas. As far as I know, most of them were sincere even if they realize their ideas will never come to pass in their lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/390 "2013-04-24T02:54:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This’ll be crazy unpopular here; I think people who choose not to have children will end up disappointed, unhappy, and lonely, and won’t really get nearly enough out of life that it has to offer. I think people who choose to have children are MORE likely to end up disappointed, unhappy, and lonely, and won’t really get nearly enough out of life that it has to offer. :dubious: You’d be surprised how many people regret having their children, and they usually don’t have to say anything because the people around them, especially the children, know it. Which reminds me of another incendiary opinion I have: People often say that divorces are never the child(ren)‘s fault. Most of the time, they aren’t, but they can be, and if a child was responsible for the failure of their parents’ marriage, they know it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/391 "2013-04-24T02:56:25Z")
I think a child benefits more from having a stay at home parent once they start school, than when they are infants or toddlers. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/392 "2013-04-24T02:56:40Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Alcoholism and drug addiction are NOT “diseases.” They are **addictions**. > > A disease is when your physical body betrays you and you become sick. > > You choose to pick up a bottle and drink from it. You can control your hands and the act of purchasing, opening, and drinking from that bottle. > > You choose to go to your dealer, purchase your drug of choice, and you control how you ingest said drug. > > You can’t buy cancer. You can’t buy ALS. You can’t buy Multiple Sclerosis. You can’t buy Alzheimers. You CAN buy drugs and alcohol and get addicted to them. Addiction, period, is a disease, and it’s turning out to be way more complex than just “Stop drinking” or whatever. One of my friends has worked in substance abuse treatment for many years, and she says it’s not unusual for people to stop drinking or using drugs, and they will become religious fanatics, hypersexual, gamble compulsively (more common in men), develop eating disorders (more common in women), etc. and likewise, people who give up addiction to the above things not uncommonly start drinking, using drugs, hoarding, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/393 "2013-04-24T03:05:09Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > (h) And finally, a few of these posts suck because they leave me really really curious to know more. You think slavery isn’t all that bad? Please explicate! That’s fucking fascinating. Horrifying, but fascinating, and you have left me unsatisfied. I can’t defend slavery as a general philosophy but I can certainly defend it in certain circumstances. My family owned slaves from the 1st colony at Jamestown up until the end of the Civil War (over 250 years). We still have close relations to the descendants of my ancestor’s slaves (some of them are blood relatives too). The vast majority were treated quite well. You have to be careful about false options here because there were few for people that were slaves. Africa was tribal, violent, and life sucked in general (that is how they are the original slaves got sold into slavery in the first place). Once the slaves were in the U.S., it certainly wasn’t all peaches and sunshine but any of their realistic options were potentially much worse. If they had a good owner, their life was about as good as it could realistically get overall for most of them. Without slavery, they wouldn’t even be in the U.S. at all and neither would their descendants. As many problems as black Americans have today, you just don’t see many choosing to emigrate back to Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/394 "2013-04-24T03:36:51Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > As many problems as black Americans have today, you just don’t see many choosing to emigrate back to Africa. As many problems as Africa had in the 16th-19th centuries, you just didn’t see many choosing to emigrate to the Americas to be slaves. ---
**Author:** ![DaisyOlive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DaisyOlive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaisyOlive)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/395 "2013-04-24T03:40:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Addiction, period, is a disease, and it’s turning out to be way more complex than just “Stop drinking” or whatever. One of my friends has worked in substance abuse treatment for many years, and she says it’s not unusual for people to stop drinking or using drugs, and they will become religious fanatics, hypersexual, gamble compulsively (more common in men), develop eating disorders (more common in women), etc. and likewise, people who give up addiction to the above things not uncommonly start drinking, using drugs, hoarding, etc. I think their point was, and I agree, is no one wakes up one day after having never drank and says “I am going to be an alcoholic today”. It’s your choice to pick up alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, ect. Same with hoarding, unless you hoard garbage. You don’t wake up with twenty cats. You go to the pet store and buy one. Where as, you don’t say “I’m going to try cancer today”. I don’t it’s a disease either. It’s a problem you gave yourself if your are an addict or hoarder. I do think our society encourages improper relationships with substances of all kinds. When you are an alcoholic or fat, people are shocked. Another unpopular opinion at least in real life, I think alcohol makes parties and social situations worse. I know when I’m having a good time I personally think “This would be so much better with booze!”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/396 "2013-04-24T05:07:28Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Damn, that is one unpopular opinion. > > For the record, I don’t think that most people were trolling. Most of us honestly believe what we are saying even if we know our beliefs could never be enacted. Well, there’s trolling, and then there’s trolling. I don’t think most people came into this thread and just made shit up out of whole cloth to attempt to get a response. I do think, however, that someone who holds a view that is somewhat unusual might be tempted to express that view in this thread in a fashion which makes the view seem even more unusual or outre than it is… as an example, consider the difference between “organized religion is damaging and we’d be better off without it” and “organized religion should be illegal”. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/397 "2013-04-24T05:11:42Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I can’t defend slavery as a general philosophy but I can certainly defend it in certain circumstances. My family owned slaves from the 1st colony at Jamestown up until the end of the Civil War (over 250 years). We still have close relations to the descendants of my ancestor’s slaves (some of them are blood relatives too). The vast majority were treated quite well. You have to be careful about false options here because there were few for people that were slaves. > > Africa was tribal, violent, and life sucked in general (that is how they are the original slaves got sold into slavery in the first place). Once the slaves were in the U.S., it certainly wasn’t all peaches and sunshine but any of their realistic options were potentially much worse. If they had a good owner, their life was about as good as it could realistically get overall for most of them. Without slavery, they wouldn’t even be in the U.S. at all and neither would their descendants. As many problems as black Americans have today, you just don’t see many choosing to emigrate back to Africa. Quelle surprise. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/398 "2013-04-24T05:47:50Z")
People are way too goddamn sensitive. Insults only hurt when you believe deep down they are true. It’s not the fact that someone called you a name that pisses you off, it’s that you fear it is actually true. Wrestling is the best sport ever. Hands down. You want to teach your kids self defense, learn confidence, stay away from drugs – enroll them in wrestling. Boxing is great but it doesn’t have the structure behind it in the schools like wrestling does. Also, the other major difference is that you can go full out “live” nearly every practice. You can’t do that in boxing. You’d go brain dead in a month. Pitting posters ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/399 "2013-04-24T06:07:25Z")
Modern people are weak for the most part. Only in a sense of the conveniences we’ve become accustomed to expect. Imagine if people had to go without cigarettes, or burgers, or coffee, or any of the other thousands of vices we are addicted too. Now, take that and apply it to things like food or water, and shit starts to get real crazy. Fortunately, the human spirit at its core is strong. We’ve survived in the wild through thousands of years of evolution. I think that’s got to count for something. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/400 "2013-04-24T06:27:54Z")
> [@panaccione](#): > > Modern people are weak for the most part. Only in a sense of the conveniences we’ve become accustomed to expect. Imagine if people had to go without cigarettes, or burgers, or coffee, or any of the other thousands of vices we are addicted too. Now, take that and apply it to things like food or water, and shit starts to get real crazy. > > Fortunately, the human spirit at its core is strong. We’ve survived in the wild through thousands of years of evolution. I think that’s got to count for something. So the stronger core of humanity at some point will survive as the marshmallow masses collapse and die off. Decades of negative selection (even the weakest among us are given tremendous support) will turn upon itself and the human race will be once again subject to evolution in its most natural form. Of course, some of the strong will also be thick-headed, but history shows that great intelligence may not be all that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645.md?page=21)