Archive Diving: Logic can be fun!

(Author's note: I have been digging through my archives and have been reading some of my better old posts. I've found that some could use a bit of updating. So for the sake of transparency, I'm republishing them with the new additions.)

This post was originally published 11/12/08. Republished with more gender neutral language and with a fuller expansion of pro choice positioning.

Dear people who cant seem to string together a basic logic chain with a map and a flashlight,

We have had our disagreements, me with the thinking, you with the lack thereof and the taking offense that I would DARE to think for myself and not bow to your inferior non-logic, but I have recently encountered something from you that I feel needs immediate direct attention.

I will never tell you that you are not allowed to have an opinion on an issue that you are not directly involved in or have experience with. You can have any opinion you want, no matter how infantile or stupid it may be. It is your opinion and you are entitled to it.

HOWEVER, your opinion is NOT fact, and because it is your opinion does not mean that it is factually true, or accurate. While I will not tell you that you cannot have your opinion based on lack of experience, exposure or understanding, I WILL tell you when your opinion is uniformed due to the previously stated conditions. Reading newspapers about an issue does not count, knowing someone involved in said issues does not count, caring about it with not practical experience DOES NOT COUNT.

Examples:

1) If you are not a pregnant or potentially pregnant person, you may have an opinion on abortion, but otherwise it is none of your business, yes, even if it is your significant other seeking said abortion. If you have a healthy relationship, then you should trust hir to consider your feelings in the decision. If you can't then you probably should not have been sleeping with hir to begin with. If hir getting one is so abhorrent to you, then dump hir and sleep with someone that will give birth to your spawn. If dumping hir is not an option, then tough. The same can be said if you impregnate your significant (or not so significant) other and zie chooses to keep the pregnancy.

2) If you have no functioning knowledge of a specific culture and their language other than a few news sources and the internet, then you may have an opinion about events within that culture, but your opinion will not come from a place of actual understanding of the mentality of the people involved and the structure of the society that shaped it. Your opinion is therefore, UNINFORMED and most likely based in faulty information.

These things also apply to me, and to anyone who wishes to engage in debate or discussion, so please don't try to turn this around on me. I can tell you that you don't know everything, while still not knowing everything myself.

Have a lovely day,
Dori