Nirvana – Opinion
Coffee Is Wonderful! (in my opinion)
Article by David Bowman
Coffee is a wonderful beverage. It has a pleasant taste, and it can help you wake up, think clearly, recover quickly after a strenuous workout, and lose weight. People who drink coffee feel good about themselves.
Not so fast, buckaroo.
Some of this may be true, but some is certainly an opinion. Here are the opinions:
Wonderful beverage,Pleasant taste, andFeel good about themselves.
Opinions creep into our writing easily, and they can damage our relationship with the reader. When you provide opinions, you don’t respect the readers’ rights to form their own opinions from the facts. In contrast, you create the opportunity for the reader to discredit your authority.
As seen from the example above, opinions may be expressed as if they were facts. You are stating “I believe this is true.” The reader, however, may have a different opinion, in which case you will establish a confrontational relationship with the reader. Also, an astute reader will be able to separate facts from opinions. After realizing that you are expressing opinions, this reader may also reject your facts, or at least question them. In either case, you lose credibility as an authority in the subject.
Facts are superior to opinions. Provide facts and allow the reader to decide how to interpret or use them. This demonstrates respect for your reader. If the facts are valid and comprehensive, you can build a logical argument to support your main point. Present your facts well, and your reader will interpret them correctly-the same way you interpret them.
Let’s look at that example again, this time without the opinions. The point we are trying to make is that coffee is a “wonderful beverage.”
“Coffee can help you wake up, think clearly, recover quickly after a strenuous workout, and lose weight. Additionally, many people enjoy the taste of coffee and find that drinking coffee improves their mood.”
These are facts. Notice how I managed to sneak in a few personal opinions by stating them as the opinions of others, e.g., “Many people find that coffee has a pleasant taste.” In this revision, this is no longer a personal opinion. It is a fact. Many people do feel this way.
This version recognizes the readers’ rights to determine their own opinion. The readers will consider the facts and, in many cases, decide (or agree) that coffee is a wonderful beverage, which is our opinion. Also, we have not alienated those with different opinions. They can’t argue with the facts, and they are not insulted by being told that opposing opinions are wrong. We have avoided expressing our opinion, and we will keep a positive relationship with the reader.
You can express your opinions. You don’t want to do this for documents that are supposed to be objective, such as scientific papers and newspaper stories; they are not appropriate in those contexts. Determine whether or not opinions are appropriate for the document you write.
Let’s say that you determine that you can express your opinion. Here are four guidelines to prevent turning off your reader.
State your opinions as opinions (e.g., “In my opinion…”). Support your opinions with facts (e.g., “I am of this opinion because…”).Draw any conclusions on the facts, not the opinions (e.g., “This evidence supports the idea that…”).Provide opinions only on topics about which you have comprehensive, in-depth information or experience.
Synthetic Opinion
The creation of the television in the 1920s serves as a milestone in our modern society, but it did not change the world. Sweeping change did not take place until the implementation of Broadcast Television in 1941. The world has become of different place since then. Even though newspaper media was controlled by internationalists much further back through history, that medium could only target those who read for enjoyment. Broadcast radio came next and the era of targeted marketing really took off. Corporations ratcheted up the hype and made the people want what they were selling. Being a marketer myself, I really can’t hold this particular peccadillo against them.
Then broadcast television came on the scene. It didn’t take long for the robber barons to notice how powerful a tool this medium presented. Following the chains of ownership on all major media outlets, you’ll find that those in control are those who have a vested interest in your belief that the nightly news will tell you everything of importance that goes on in the world.
Quite the opposite is true however. Dumbing down the population remains the number one goal of the majority of broadcast television. However, social manipulation didn’t just pop up with the advent of television, it just took it to new heights.
Even in the ‘smart’ shows we see propagandize opinion in the fringes of the plot lines. As an example, I’ll use one of my favorite TV shows, 4400. This science fiction flight of fancy features main characters who work for the Department of Homeland Security. The very existence of the DHS is a travesty that puts every civil right at risk and a TV show now exists extolling the virtues of DHS style justice.
I recall a moment when a man was arrested and told “You do not have the right to remain silent, you do not have the right to an attorney, you will be treated as an enemy combatant.” Another scene showed the director of the local DHS branch telling a radio producer that “in the old days it would have taken a warrant to have you followed or to listen to every one of your phone calls. It’s not the old days anymore”. I recall a scene from Law and Order where someone, not even a suspect, was threatened with being proclaimed and enemy combatant and locked away if he didn’t tell them what they wanted to know. My best hopes are that showing these things will help people to realize the civil rights issues involved, but I seriously doubt it. Habeas corpus and probable cause don’t cross people’s minds much. Examples like these in popular media examplify the desensitization of the populous against civil rights infringements. If it happens every week on TV, it must be OK. Most people are too concerned about who is going to be the next American Idol or whether Britney is wearing underwear to take notice of any real issues.
When abhorrent legislation passes Congress, is a rallying cry broadcast on the nightly news? Of course it isn’t. When third party candidates enter the presidential race, are they given serious media coverage? No they are not. If the candidate is not Republican or Democrat, the media blackballs them and implies that a third party vote is wasted. This once again colors the viewer’s opinion. I hear ‘wasted vote’ every day when I speak of third party candidates. The real wasted vote is voting for one of the two parties that have stopped representing you and protecting your rights.
The Church Committee investigation of 1975 even revealed a CIA program called Operation Mockingbird whose purpose was to influence domestic and foreign media. The government has stepped in to controlling information as far back as the 70′s for sure and probably further. Propaganda films in World War II were quite common. I for one trust little that I hear on mass media. It is all propaganda of some sort. It tells you what to eat, what to wear, and how to live. It tells you nothing of ever increasing police powers, government malfeasance, or the erosion of your civil liberties. One would be well served to switch to alternative media. Your mind would be released from opinion manipulation.
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