When people say; "I respect your opinion," do they really mean that? I will only use that expression when I'm genuinely unsure, but when an opinion is obviously bonkers it's not an expression I could ever countenance.
"I respect your opinion, but I disagree," is a nonsense too; it's an oxymoron. I can try to understand what's happened to someone for them to reach a certain conclusion, but respecting an opinion that's clearly that of a lunatic or conspiracy theorist is madness. Just look at Trump's opinions - you'd need to be certifiable to respect those.
Perhaps it's more a tactic to diffuse an argument, like; "Let's agree to disagree," which means neither party can concede defeat or declare victory. A stalemate. There are genuine stalemates when each party has valid arguments, but it usually means that one party refuses to acknowledge fact or logic.
I can certainly respect someone's right to hold an opinion, but not respect said opinion in the slightest.
1 comment:
Nice post! Respect is something that needs to be earned; simply holding an opinion is not something worthy of that in itself IMO.
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