3 ms·

I don't see an alternative being offered in this article; should people say instead “I believe Republicans hate poor people.” or maybe "It is my opinion that

I don't see an alternative being offered in this article; should people say instead “I believe Republicans hate poor people.” or maybe "It is my opinion that Republicans hate poor people."? It would seem the author is suggesting that instead I should say, "Republicans hate poor people." Now I have changed the statement from an opinion to a fact. While I would not say "I feel that two plus two is four", since this is not an opinion, "I feel like" in modern English is commonly used as one method of indicating your opinion. Also by "softening" with a "this is my opinion" style phrasing we indicate that we are not close minded, but rather we are open to having an intelligent discussion surrounding the opinion, and thus open to learning and persuasion if presented with evidence that counters our opinion.

thaumaturgy 11y ago
I usually use "I think" for opinions I have that might be wrong in some objective sense. But, even better is to not state unfounded opinions at all. If you don't have some concrete reasoning behind your opinion that Republicans hate poor people, then it probably isn't worth saying out loud.
- bigtunacan 11y ago
  The “I believe Republicans hate poor people.” is an example I took directly from the article and was not me stating my own opinion. I agree that "I think" is also an acceptable way of indicating that you are giving your opinion rather than facts. The author seems to be indicating however that opinions should be delivered as statements; which changes the meaning and impacts the potential outcome of reasoning and discussion.
  - thaumaturgy 11y ago
    > The “I believe Republicans hate poor people.” is an example I took directly from the article and was not me stating my own opinion. I didn't intend to imply otherwise. I was using "you" in the general sense. > The author seems to be indicating however that opinions should be delivered as statements I didn't read his article that way -- can you point out where you got that impression? I just went back and re-read it and I still didn't see it making that argument. I read his argument as being specific to "I feel like". For example, these lines: > I have a theory that this phrase truly took hold in the feel-good, self-esteem driven, sharing-is-caring educational environment that permeated the 90’s childhood. and > For instance, if someone does something offensive to you, tell them how you felt affected, not how wrong they were. The closest thing I can find to your reading of it is in the next paragraph, > Instead of becoming more certain about ideas or beliefs we hold, we use verbal legalese to de-escalate our statements. But I use "I think" for things I've actually thought about. If I haven't thought about something then I wouldn't bother opening my mouth (or keyboard?) about it. Maybe the author can chime in here.

thaumaturgy 11y ago

I usually use "I think" for opinions I have that might be wrong in some objective sense. But, even better is to not state unfounded opinions at all. If you don't have some concrete reasoning behind your opinion that Republicans hate poor people, then it probably isn't worth saying out loud.

bigtunacan 11y ago
The “I believe Republicans hate poor people.” is an example I took directly from the article and was not me stating my own opinion. I agree that "I think" is also an acceptable way of indicating that you are giving your opinion rather than facts. The author seems to be indicating however that opinions should be delivered as statements; which changes the meaning and impacts the potential outcome of reasoning and discussion.
- thaumaturgy 11y ago
  > The “I believe Republicans hate poor people.” is an example I took directly from the article and was not me stating my own opinion. I didn't intend to imply otherwise. I was using "you" in the general sense. > The author seems to be indicating however that opinions should be delivered as statements I didn't read his article that way -- can you point out where you got that impression? I just went back and re-read it and I still didn't see it making that argument. I read his argument as being specific to "I feel like". For example, these lines: > I have a theory that this phrase truly took hold in the feel-good, self-esteem driven, sharing-is-caring educational environment that permeated the 90’s childhood. and > For instance, if someone does something offensive to you, tell them how you felt affected, not how wrong they were. The closest thing I can find to your reading of it is in the next paragraph, > Instead of becoming more certain about ideas or beliefs we hold, we use verbal legalese to de-escalate our statements. But I use "I think" for things I've actually thought about. If I haven't thought about something then I wouldn't bother opening my mouth (or keyboard?) about it. Maybe the author can chime in here.