Why You Need To Spend Time In Forming Opinions On Internet
Internet changes its opinion about things in crazy ways. Couple of years ago, the net convinced you that Hindustan Unilever Ltd was a baddie for Mercury poisoning in Kodaikanal. Now, it is convincing you that HUL is a beacon of brotherhood. If you let the internet decide what you think about things your brain will be twisted and turned till the strings of your neurons snap.
So, you need to form your own opinions. How do you form your own opinions? Bad question. I can't tell you how to form YOUR opinion. What I can tell are the top qualities, I think, of a sound opinion:
1. Rigorous Fact-Check
If the opinion is based on facts from unreliable sources, how reliable can the opinion itself be? No robust opinion can form on the basis of shaky facts. There are many tools available on net for a fact checking. I use a mnemonic called I’M VAIN.
2. Considers Multiple Opinions
For every event, there’s a version that we’d like to be true. This makes us miss things that don’t fit in our version. An opinion that considers multiple opinions respectfully, minimizes that tendency and results in a sturdier opinion.
3. Considers More Than Two Sides:
Rarely will you find any topic that neatly divides into two sides, yet every other day you’ll see every topic be divided into two - Good vs Bad, Us vs Them, Right vs Wrong, etc., Be wary of those opinions that do this.
4. Doesn’t Ascribe Intentions:
While we humans can have a decent guess at other people's state of mind, we aren't mind readers. So when you see a person speculating some X did something coz they intended Y without any such statement from X on record, proceed cautiously.
5. Leaves Room For Modification:
We humans will mostly have access to only partial information. Opinions which care for truth accept this vulnerability openly and keep a door open to respectfully change opinion in the light of new information.
Of course, this is not the definitive list. There are many things one could add to make it better. But don’t take my word. Take your time and form your own opinions.