110 - The Cost of Opinion 🗣️💰
Hey there, !
I honestly don't know where my brain went with this one. It's borderline self-help article trash, but I wanted to write it to get my thoughts in order about it. Feel free to skip (as with any newsletter) to the links themselves :D
1.
Have you ever thought about what the weight of an opinion is?
We usually think about the weight of an opinion like...a celebrity's opinion, or an expert's opinion holding more 'weight' than someone else's. Usually, this is because we assume that that person, by virtue of their status, has done the requisite research and / or checking of the information before disseminating it.
Publicising their opinion means that they are putting skin in the game - namely, their reputation. If they're proven wrong, then they'll lose it (usually). If proven right, then nothing really happens - so they have more to lose than to gain.
(NB: This concept has come under attack in recent examples of celebrities that are SO famous - they can suffer the attrition of losing some followers, and instead calcify die-hard fans in their inner circle, creating a following that will hang on their each and every word.)
In addition, this weight differs in importance depending on the context; I would trust a computer expert to give me advice on what graphics card I should buy, but not necessarily medical advice. I'd probably say a Prime Minister has more weight of an opinion about international politics than I would.
But that's not really where I wanted to go with this piece.
2.
At work, we have a channel on Microsoft Teams called 'Passionate Arguments about Trivial Things'. It used to be one of the most popular channels when we were on Slack, with some of the world's most important discussions happening there, such as:
- Jam or cream first on a scone?
- Triangle or rectangle cutting of sandwiches?
- Is cereal a soup?
This channel had probably the most engagement on Slack when we had it, and there have been some extremely legendary comment threads on the Teams version (people have real strong opinions...).
People love to share their opinion and ways of thinking about a question. Specifically, people like to tell you when you're wrong (i.e. Cunningham's Law: the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer. A more contemporary example being this extremely memorable Brooklyn 99 episode about committing the 'perfect crime').
Mostly, it's so low stakes that no-one's really getting that bent out of shape about things. We're respectful enough (and also, I mean, it's a work channel technically) so there isn't really anyone being a dick about things.
But mention that Chicken Crimpy is the best Shape...
3.
Opinions are extremely easy to share. Social media amplifies every opinion as if it's of equal weight, and the Mighty Algorithm helps optimise it for ~ * engagement * ~ (essentially, a lot of it being people telling you that you're wrong). There's no fact-checking, there's no filter; it's just straight up your opinion, in black and white, online, for free.
Though I seem to be on a more pessimistic bent about social media, I should also state that it's a good thing that gatekeepers aren't determining everything we watch or read. Sometimes having video content that goes straight on Tiktok (e.g. with BLM or Capitol riots) means we can get to information quicker, and use our own lens to interpret it rather than having it framed by the media.
However, though sharing opinions is essentially free, the time and effort cost of defending those claims is high. Ever started an argument on Facebook that you regret wasting your life on?
Discord communities and 'echo chambers' on the web are hotbeds for spaces that people can use to share their opinions in a protected place, fuelling their beliefs through confirmation bias and mutual support in shared beliefs (the shared fictions I've previously written about).
Hell, the last lockdown protest in the Melbourne CBD was organised within 4 hours of the lockdown announcement by Daniel Andrews - all done on encrypted messaging platforms for anti-maskers and anti-lockdown folk.
People retreat from places that are not supportive of their beliefs (on the most part). In many cases, people would prefer to spend their energy doing things they enjoy and can be supported for, rather than fighting with people on Facebook about why abortion is wrong, why religion is right, or why they should be able to own a gun.
4.
I'm struggling to make the point here, but this is it:
If you make it too costly to voice an opinion, people will stop sharing them
The top example I can think of is Donald Trump being elected to power - a majority of people who thought that it was a shoe-in victory for Hilary Clinton stumped at why there were so many people who actually didn't like Hilary, but didn't feel like they could speak up against the overwhelming momentum of public rhetoric.
You'll see this in more personal, local relationships that you have; whatever is sensitive to talk about (with your friends, or family, or online) is the thing that you should be talking about. It takes effort, and a whole lot of energy, but without those things, how can we have productive discussions about things like climate change, or gender equality, or any cause that you're passionate about?
On a more personal level, if you judge someone who tries to share an opinion about something with you, what happens? You might get aggressive, or make them defensive, and in the future, they'll choose not to share with you again. Now you've lost a valuable channel for opinions that you never knew about.
I've heard the advice that you should never criticise or comment on someone's laugh - they'll never laugh around you ever again. Or when someone says they haven't done something - isn't it better to be one of today's 10,000?
But more importantly, don't instantly shut people down when they're trying to share how they think. It's so easy to do it, too! Seeking to understand why someone has got to the thought pattern that they have means that you have to expose your own thinking as well, and better understand the flaws in your own argument.
Maybe you'll find out that there are things you actually agree on, or things that you haven't thought about enough in your own life. People have such diverse, different experiences - why would there only be one way of thinking about the world?
Reduce the cost of sharing that opinion with you - the shame, the ridicule, the disappointment. It leads down much nicer paths for relationships, and extends connection to another person rather than shutting it off.
This isn't to say that some people don't deserve shutting it off, especially when they aren't open to shifting their beliefs or can't understand the flaws in their own arguments "this is just how the world works", "you wouldn't understand"...
I strongly believe that if you can't defend your position against someone diametrically opposed to you, then you don't understand your own position well enough - and if you insist on it being correct, then don't be surprised when someone stops talking to you about it.
Anyway, feel free to talk to me about anything ;)
Let me know what you think! <3
Chat soon :)
Let me know if you have any feedback for the newsletter!
✔️Real Life Recommendations
-
Heat - fantastic classic movie that stars both Al Pacino and Robert de Niro, with filmmaker Michael Mann (Kingsmen) heading up the production. It tells the story of a broken detective trying to root out and smash a criminal crew of thieves who are trying to make their way in the world, and has some intensely brilliant action scenes. It's over the top, but that's what you expect from the 90s - and you can see the dynamic, edgy, violent, colourful action scenes that are somewhat recreated in Kingsmen. Apparently the movie is used in Marine recruit training because it has great examples of urban gunfights and how to properly tactically reload a gun!
de Niro and Pacino give some great performances as tortured men, married to the job / hustle, and the unfortunate consequences of it. Natalie Portman is also in this as a teenager for some memorable scenes in her second movie ever (after Leon the Professional). Only downside is that the runtime is like 3 hours long - I sat down for a 1.5hr movie and it just kept going. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but it's definitely a long one!
-
Hibiki - a lovely Japanese brunch place in leafy Camberwell, which has been surviving through the pandemic. I went last weekend and had a great chicken roll, and some onigrazu (like a sushi sandwich). There's a really cutely designed convenience store next door (also owned by Hibiki) that I picked up some snacks from too!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
-
Solitude and Leadership - a great speech transcript from William Deresiewicz (who presented this at the West Point Military Academy in America) about the importance of being able to take the time for yourself to think through your own thoughts and opinions, so that you can lead people in the future:
How will you find the strength and wisdom to challenge an unwise order or question a wrongheaded policy? What will you do the first time you have to write a letter to the mother of a slain soldier? How will you find words of comfort that are more than just empty formulas?
These are truly formidable dilemmas, more so than most other people will ever have to face in their lives, let alone when they’re 23. The time to start preparing yourself for them is now. And the way to do it is by thinking through these issues for yourself—morality, mortality, honour—so you will have the strength to deal with them when they arise. Waiting until you have to confront them in practice would be like waiting for your first firefight to learn how to shoot your weapon. Once the situation is upon you, it’s too late. You have to be prepared in advance. You need to know, already, who you are and what you believe: not what the Army believes, not what your peers believe (that may be exactly the problem), but what you believe.
-
What is 'Elite Overproduction'? - it's when you have too many 'elites' that can't be absorbed by society. This means that they spend more of their time trying to stay as an 'elite', or being perceived as one, rather than spend the effort to get to the point where you are elite. Weird framework but has some good examples of what the author is trying to get across.
-
What are we going to wear? - lockdowns are nearly over and we'll have to go OUT and see PEOPLE wearing FASHIONABLE CLOTHES. But what does fashion look like after 2 years of...not needing to care about it? How can you forecast a trend with so little information?
“No one is envisioning a customer wanting to come back in with four-inch stilettos and a buttoned-up suit and tie,” Ms. Bariquit said. She is confident people will want to get dressed up again, she said, but thinks they will dress for work in a different way.
Customers are telling the retailer that they “love the comfort they’re feeling in their joggers, yet they don’t want to wear their joggers to the office,” she said. “So how does that translate to soft pants of the future?”