(14-10-2017, 05:42 PM)Bobo Wrote: I prefer it much as it is: different opinions based on different preferations and experiences. Diversity is a foundation that makes the community.
In case I was not clear in my response:
"One more fallacy is worth briefly discussing. It is perhaps best understood as a version of the red herring fallacy, but is repeated with sufficient frequency that it deserves special attention. When discussing the merits of alternative points of view, it is not uncommon for someone to declare, perhaps somewhat defensively, that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Jamie Whyte has a nice discussion of this strange form of reasoning. He argues, first, that it’s not entirely obvious that we do have such a right. Second, the idea that we are each entitled to our own opinion is almost always irrelevant to the context in which the claim is introduced. Within the context of a conversation about the merits of competing ideas and opinions, Whyte suggests that appealing to the right to one’s own opinion is best interpreted as placing a requirement on others to desist from trying to change that individual’s views. But, as Whyte suggests, if people hold an opinion that places them in mortal danger then we would seem to have a responsibility to rid them of the dangerous attitude. Even ignoring practical matters, and granting people their right to hold opinions that are poorly supported by available evidence, it’s rather strange that people would want to hold an opinion simply because they have a right to. To illustrate the charge of irrelevancy, suppose we’re engaged in a discussion about the merits of teaching comprehensive sex education courses in high schools, as opposed to the abstinence-only programs that some individuals prefer. Arguments, ideas and objections flow back and forth. At some point, however, some people simply announce that – despite all that’s been said – they’re entitled to their opinion. How is this relevant? The point of such discussions is to try and establish which ideas are best supported by the evidence and arguments we have available. People’s right to their own opinion fails to advance the discussion. Either an opinion is held for good reasons, in which case there is no need to defend the opinion by appealing to rights, or an opinion is held despite the absence of good reasons, in which case that opinion clearly should influence neither behaviour nor decisions nor the development of social policies. Either way, in almost every context, having a right to an opinion is irrelevant." - Creating Scientific Controversies: Uncertainty and Bias in Science and Society
You really see a lot of this on this forum...