Consensus... (Gaming)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Friday, January 17, 2014, 13:33 (3966 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by Kermit, Friday, January 17, 2014, 13:42

People regularly call you out on your absolutist statements ("That game is bad"). Your most common response is "come on, of COURSE what I say is my opinion, so why should I waste space qualifying the statement?"

The answer is actually rather simple, and I just keep forgetting to throw it into a reply. You should qualify statements that are your opinion so that they can be distinguished from actual facts. When you say "This game is bad" and "It is raining" - you are telling us that you believe those two facts are equally verifiable. If you leave out any qualifiers, ever, you're requiring your READERS to guess which 'facts' are really facts, and which are just your opinions.

This is insane. BAD and GOOD are value judgements based on opinions. OF COURSE they are not facts! When I say "This game is bad", there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that can be a statement of anything other than opinion. They shouldn't have to guess, because there's no way it can be anything else!.

That's why I don't waste time qualifying statements as opinion or fact.

It's not a waste of time, though. People who express their judgments as if they are facts come off as arrogant. You act like it's our job to realize that you're not being arrogant, when the question really is why do you express as fact that which you know cannot be factual? It comes across as trying to shut down debate. Every hear the phrase, the quality of your communication is the response you get? You continually tick people off by sounding as if you have no interest in any other opinions because yours is the decisive one that renders opinion as fact.

If you want people to debate with you instead of getting ticked off at you, show some courtesy and tact in your expression.