How do we come about the opinions we have? What influences the way we think, and why?
“The general population doesn’t know what’s happening, and it doesn’t even know that it doesn’t know.” — Noam Chomsky
As I’m sitting down and trying to keep up with all the news and all the interviews, I only have so many thoughts going on in my head about everything that’s going on with Palestine and Israel.
Everyone’s posting about it, everyone’s talking about it, and somehow, everyone has such transparent opinions about it.
I have always been afraid to speak up about topics that I haven’t made my upmost research about. I tend to stray away from these sensitive conversations, and prefer keeping my opinions to myself; or at least until I am certain with them.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to put effort into understanding things, because being unaware is only a result of laziness and lack of education.
One thing I have always been certain with, however, is that I love asking questions.
I think I was born with a deep curiosity about everything that happens around me. And the more aware of the world I become, the deeper my curiosity grows.
The problem is though, that this curiosity inside of me makes me feel guilty at times. Even though we are human, and it is absolutely normal to feel confused and curious about certain things, our conscience tries to torment us for straying away from what we’ve been told to believe.
But today, I want to ask all the questions, without feeling any guilt, because that feeling can sometimes make us small, and limit us from acquiring greater things in the world.
I don’t think that I can comprehend the number of deaths of people on a daily basis, nor the atrocities happening during these difficult times, and I try to sympathize for these people, but I will never know what they are feeling.
Today, I am not here to talk about my opinion on the situation, nor discuss how sickening it all is.
I’m here to only talk about what is the thing that allows everyone to have such a strong opinions, and why is it so difficult to try and put ourselves in other people’s shoes.
I can’t help but wonder, where our opinions come from.
When I think about it, it seems to me that people’s opinion’s are always based off of the way they were raised, the people they’ve met, the experiences they’ve been in, and the things they’ve read.
Since the day we are born, we are exposed to everything and everyone around us. Until a certain age, we are being taught by certain people about how we are supposed to think.
These people might be our parents, guardians, family members, friends, teachers, etc. No matter who they may be, I think we can all agree that our years before adulthood, our minds are being somewhat controlled by people older than us, into believing certain things. And it is an ongoing cycle passed on many generations.
As we grow older, we begin to ask questions, and try to find answers on our own. Or at least some of us do. But I do believe that there has already been a foundation of set of beliefs that is really difficult to be changed, as it has been craved in our minds for years. And unless we make the upmost effort into removing those beliefs and opinions from our minds for a while, to try and see things from a different perspective, we will always be somewhat bias.
Nowadays, media plays a huge role. It is something that we are so focused on, for many consecutive hours — to a point where we are addicted to it. The least that it can do, is also control the way we think.
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” — Malcom X
But why do we let ourselves get so dragged away, without seeking any additional information? Why do we let the ‘big guys’ win? Why is it that whenever we see big headlines, with attractive colors, we instantly become interested, just like they want us to be?
Why do we so easily form opinions based off of things that match our desires, instead of making more research and staying curios?
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have opinions, in fact that is not at all what should happen. I think it’s so important for us to constantly be aware of what and who to believe, and to make sure that we know what we’re saying when we decide to say it out loud.
Staying silent at times is necessary when you are not certain of your words, but staying silent for too long becomes a different form of opinion; an ignorant one.
I used to think that I’m certain of my opinions. I thought that as long as everything made sense to me, then my opinions are valid.
But one day, I decided to question my sources, and I came to the realization that my sources are few, and I haven’t read much.
If your opinions are going to take years of education to be established, then let them.
I think that the conclusion I came down to was that our opinions need to be established based off of education.
Here’s the thing, though. Education is such a delicate thing.
But it is also a beautiful and long life journey. There is never enough to learn, and never a time to stop learning.
We need to always be aware of what and who to believe. We must also always be curious, and question everything. Even when it’s hard, even when it’s uncomfortable, it is absolutely necassary.
There will always be different opinions by different people. And there will always be conflicts. If we all agreed, life would lose its purpose. That is why we must also be accepting towards different opinions and beliefs (of course).
I tried to imagine someone who was born without any affiliation to anyone else, and without any influence by others’ opinions. And whilst imagining that person, I asked the question, is there such thing as forming natural opinions? Is it possible for a human being to not be bias, not even a little bit?
I don’t think so.
As soon as we learn how to read and how to communicate, someone with their own formulated beliefs will inevitably affect us in some way.
I want you to take an example, however, which I thought was the closest to that person. I’m sorry in advance, if you haven’t watched the show ‘Anne with an E’, but I’m going to be referencing it in this scenario.
The show is set in the 19th century, in Canada (for context). Anne is an orphan since being a baby. She lived inside orphanages for a while, at some point she was given to some families to help out with the kids and house work. She was never treated right. Throughout the show, we get to see her having flashbacks of being physically and emotionally abused.
One thing that kept her sane, and that gave her hope for a better life, was reading. So, as you can imagine, even though she wasn’t being raised by anyone, nor taught anything, she still had her books. Therefore, she still had somewhat of an influence, by other people, on her.
Despite that, her beliefs are still considered to be mostly natural, as she was never really directly been told what to believe.
At some point, a single brother and sister (who live together), happen to adopt her and give her a better life. A lot of things happen, but the point that I’m trying to get to is this:
She encounters a group of native Americans, and immediately befriends them. She treats them with love and she is greatly interested in their culture. She makes sure to visit them often, and eventually becomes best friends with a girl her age named ka’kwet.
Little did she know, that these people are actually hated by the majority of those around her. They have been mistreated, and viewed as ‘animals’. Their children are forced to go into schools that are meant to convert them into Christianity, where teachers gave them wigs, abused them, and somewhat brainwashed them into fitting in with their society. As though their true identity didn’t matter.
Anne, with her natural instinct, saw these people for who they were, and didn’t think anything of them.
But imagine a different scenario, where Anne had been raised with a casual family in Canada, and raised to believe that these humans don’t deserve basic human rights.
Then, the story would have been much different, and Anne would have never become best friends with that girl.
Do you see my point? Anne was a young girl with a pure mind, unaffected by society, and she saw something that other people would not have been able to see (in that time).
My questions are:
Where do we draw the line of continuous, misleading propaganda?
How do we become certain about who the real victims are?
How do we choose who we empathize with?
Would we have the same opinions and beliefs if we were born into different families or cultures?
How valid are our resources and why do we choose to believe them?
It all comes down to a couple of things.
The facts, the credibility of our sources, and our emotions.
And maybe, when you finally understand the truth, it comes down to whether you want to believe it or not. And that’s a whole different story. Because sometimes, the truth is uncomfortable.
I hope you are aware, careful, and curios, the next time you form certain opinions and choose to speak of them.
