How It Works
Created | Updated Apr 14, 2005
There are people out there who have greater knowledge than I of just about every subject - they're called experts. Quite a few of them have an axe to grind - an agenda, but a good many of them don't. I listen to what some of them have to say about a subject that interests me and I like to think that I choose reliable, unbiased experts and sources to learn from. Usually I've no way of knowing that for sure. Once I've heard or read what they have to say I mull it over in my head and I form what becomes my opinion. You have no doubt done the same - we all need to rely upon others to provide us with information upon which we base our opinions about subjects and events we have no direct knowledge or experience of.
My opinion might not be the same as yours on any given subject - in fact our opinions may well be diametrically opposed, but my opinion isn't some crackpot idea based on nothing but prejudice - it's something I've thought about. It may not yet be fully formed because there is always something new to learn about a subject and my opinion may in fact change as I learn new things. Many of my opinions have changed over the years.
My view of the world has been formed by every experience I've had throughout my life, including (but not limited to) discussions with others, what I've heard on the radio or seen on television (either in the news, a documentary, or some kind of analysis programme), what I've read in a newspaper (either a factual report or a feature) and what I've read on the internet. My opinions are, in turn, formed by this world view that I hold in my mind, and focussed through the lens of my core beliefs.
Since I don't keep a notebook or a sound recorder with me to take down verbatim records of everything I hear/read, or the time and place I heard/read it, nor of every conversation I've had, nor of every conversation thread on every website/email list I've ever posted to, please don't expect a multitude of links every time I proffer an opinion because that's all it is - an opinion. I may sometimes be mistaken, but I don't knowingly or maliciously make stuff up. I am neither fanatic nor fundamentalist in any of my opinions.
I've been walking this earth for almost 50 years and my opinions have been forming and evolving ever since I started thinking for myself. You might find it frustrating that I often can't provide sources for my opinions - they're an amalgamation of my life experiences, so please don't fall into the all-too-often used cop-out of dismissing someone's opinion just because they can't cite half a dozen sources to back it up. That only works when someone states an opinion as fact.
