That just your opinion..

Shift

Shift

Space Core
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
5,017
Reaction score
7
Why do people say this? Is there really any point to it? I mean unless I state otherwise, whatever I say IS going to be my own opinion on the subject matter, so why must I be told this over and over again? Its irrelevant.

So yeah, discuss or something.

EDIT: And before people are picky, I'm aware its 'That's' in the title! :p
 
People feel the need to say this, if they get the impression you're pushing your opinion as a fact.

Duh.
 
No I fail to see any need to be reminded that whatever I am saying is my opinion, its obviously my opinion. If I said 'as a matter of fact' or something along those lines, THEN I would indeed be enforcing a fact across.
 
It just means they want you to know that they disagree with your opinion and think it sucks big time.
 
I think it's useful when one disagrees based on how they put you put their priorities of what's important(being out of argumentation), and wants to point that out.
EG:
Person a: Factory farming is bad because the animals live in terrible conditions.
Person b: That doesn't matter as long as it's cheaper than free-range.
Person a: But the price difference is negligible if you compare it to the animals' living conditions in factory farms.
person b: That's just your opinion!
 
That was sort of a bad example, because that's not an opinion, especially if they have a study to back it up.

The real issue with that phrase is that arguments on the internet get so heated people forget the difference between facts and opinions. It's happened so many times it's just a part of life nowadays.
 
I think the phrase is used simply to say that they don't agree with you.
 
Calling in the opinion police is the fastest way to end an argument you know you aren't going to win. It's the final draw; 'I admit you think you're right, but I maintain you are wrong. ~ Agree to disagree.'
 
Even worse, "There are two sides to every story"
 
Incidentally, no one has ever said this to me. I say it all the time, Big Lebowski style.

Shift said:
No I fail to see any need to be reminded that whatever I am saying is my opinion, its obviously my opinion. If I said 'as a matter of fact' or something along those lines, THEN I would indeed be enforcing a fact across.
Click to expand...

"I KNOW YOU'VE GIVEN ME THE RIGHT ANSWER BUT I'M STILL SO ANGRY THAT I REFUSE TO ACCEPT IT."
 
Remus said:
People feel the need to say this, if they get the impression you're pushing your opinion as a fact.

Duh.
Click to expand...

This. Sometimes people are so up their own butts that no matter how many different arguments are presented to them, theirs is always "right."

Then their defence against saying "That's just your opinion" is to say "You say that because you know I'm right and because you lose the argument hahaha I'm a winner look at me!" etc. when really people often say it to point out that the individual who is the target of the aforementioned phrase is making out that their opinion is law when it likely isn't.
 
That's never really the case though, I mean yes maybe on this forum because a lot of people on here do talk while knowing (thinking) what they are saying is a fact, but generally in any conversation/debate/argument it is usually just a cop out; a way of them saying that they dislike what you are saying, disagree with it or think your 'opinion' is stupid. I think people should just say that, rather than just stating the obvious with statement like 'that is just your opinion' >_>
 
Shift said:
That's never really the case though, I mean yes maybe on this forum because a lot of people on here do talk while knowing (thinking) what they are saying is a fact, but generally in any conversation/debate/argument it is usually just a cop out.
Click to expand...

That's just your opinion.
 
Yeah like has been said, people sometimes really get a kick out of treating their opinion as a known fact that is indisputable. Often saying that it is their opinion does nothing to dissuade this because usually if they've gotten to the point of not being able to discern fact from opinion in their own mind, they don't have a lot of room for the obvious.

Of course it does go the other way in that others will feel the need to remind others that they've stated their opinion about a subject that can have only opinion. For instance someone says, "I believe space exploration should be manned." Obviously an opinion. Yet some like to reiterate it.
 
StarBob said:
Often saying that it is their opinion does nothing to dissuade this because usually if they've gotten to the point of not being able to discern fact from opinion in their own mind, they don't have a lot of room for the obvious.
Click to expand...

So, ultimately, in most cases, it IS kinda pointless. Because blood from a stone and stuff.
 
they're saying that you alone hold that opinion. some opinions are supported by facts ..they're accusing you of the opposite of that. having debated you in the past I can understand where they're coming from
 
CptStern said:
they're saying that you alone hold that opinion. some opinions are supported by facts ..they're accusing you of the opposite of that. having debated you in the past I can understand where they're coming from
Click to expand...

No Stern what I said before applies to you..

I mean yes maybe on this forum because a lot of people on here do talk while knowing (thinking) what they are saying is a fact
Click to expand...
 
A fact (when contrasted with an opinion) is something that can be proven or disproven. It doesn't necessarily have to be right.
 
It's a cop-out. It's a way of putting everyone's argument on equal footing so you don't have to justify the stupid shit that comes out of your mouth.

Also I think it's more of an internet thing because I have honestly never encountered anyone face-to-face who tried to lecture me on subjectivity after I said something as innocuous as "that movie was a bit shit."
 
In my experience this is always a cop out. People use it when they're out of arguments but can't admit defeat. If someone really does believe that there are others with differing opinions, and they're not an idiot, they will cite those opinions not just mention them in passing.
 
When something is written in text, you have no gestural reference to judge how someone intended the information to come across, especially when people are writing in a casual and reactionary way on the Internet, so if you disagree with something, it is easy to visualize the person speaking in a very preachy or aggressive way. Then add that to the fact Internet discussions are often public and recorded, and it is easy for people to feel it is their personal job to shut your opinion down, because they are afraid it will become more influential to other reader's opinions than their own viewpoint. So saying "Its your opinion" is less to inform you of an obvious fact, and more to sway other readers from following it.

It is something I was pretty guilty of in the past, learning to chill out and let people be took a while to sink in. :D
 
usually for me it's just a shrouded **** you
 
I agree with OP, it's annoying as hell. If you makes a normative statement, it's always gonna be your opinion, so why bother pointing it out?
 
Person 1: Ethnic Minorities are shit. I think they are all dickheads.

Person 2: Why? That's just a generalisation. You can't seriously believe that?

Person 1: Yes, I do. Nothing will change my view.

Person 2: Well that's just your opinion. Most other people don't think that.

Person 2's statement is a cop-out because they know they aren't going to win this argument and know they're wrong. Person 1's view is validated.

The logic being exhibited in this thread ^
 
Stylo said:
Person 1: Ethnic Minorities are shit. I think they are all dickheads.

Person 2: Why? That's just a generalisation. You can't seriously believe that?

Person 1: Yes, I do. Nothing will change my view.

Person 2: Well that's just your opinion. Most other people don't think that.

Person 2's statement is a cop-out because they know they aren't going to win this argument and know they're wrong. Person 1's view is validated.

The logic being exhibited in this thread ^
Click to expand...

Right. Except in your example, person 2 is an idiot who could have easily argued with facts, but instead chose the easy way out by treating the word "opinion" like a pejorative. I mean, if it's "just" their opinion, then it obviously has no basis in reality. Right?
 
I'm obviously way too late to the party for the Big Lebowski reference but I'm going to do it anyway.

That's just, like, your opinion, man.

One of my roommates used to do this and it INFURIATED me. I would deliver an argument with impeccable logic that is impossible to refute so he would just be like "Well dude, that's just your opinion, we can't prove who is right or wrong because we both have our own opinion" and it just drove me ****ing nuts.
 
In another forum I was reading a thread where a guy disagreed with the statistical probabilities of dice rolls. He kept claiming that the math used to prove him wrong was just their opinion, and literally said "nothing you can say will change my mind." If I saw that guy in real life I'd have punched him.
 
Someone posted a fantastic TED speech a while back that contained one of my favourite quotes: "You can have your own opinions, but you can't have your own facts."

And no, I'm not saying people can't have their own opinions about things. Obviously they can. Nor am I claiming that the nature of certain things isn't largely, or even entirely subjective. What annoys me, specifically, is when people feel the need to point this out to you, as though doing so comprises some kind of counter-point all by itself, when in fact it's on about the same level as "I'm rubber you're glue."
 
Krynn72 said:
In another forum I was reading a thread where a guy disagreed with the statistical probabilities of dice rolls. He kept claiming that the math used to prove him wrong was just their opinion, and literally said "nothing you can say will change my mind." If I saw that guy in real life I'd have punched him.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the kind of shit that my roommate did. Even when faced with obvious irrefutable facts he would stand his ground and be like "dude we just disagree. Nobody can prove the other one wrong" and I'm like dude I've been proving you wrong for the past 15 minutes of this discussion.

For example, he and I both have cats. When we were living together his cat (which is mostly an outdoor cat) was about 2-3 years old (fully mature). My cat (actually my gf's but was staying at my place for a while) was not yet a full year old, still a juvenile cat and not fully grown. (for reference his cats name is Godzilla - female - and my cats name is Nadia).

One day we discover cat poop underneath the couch in the living room. Ensue huge argument over who has to clean it up (aka whose cat is responsible). Here's the situation:

- My cat is litter trained, never goes outside, and has NEVER EVER EVER pooped or peed anywhere but her litter box in months of living with me. The only time she ever went to the bathroom not in a litter box was literally the second day after my GF and I got her, before we litter trained her. Once... and that was several months before this incident.
- My cat is confined to my room with the door shut (I didn't like her interacting with the other cat without supervision because my roommate is a dick and didnt get her any shots or anything, and she gave my cat fleas which took forever to take care of). We let her run around in the living room sometimes when we were hanging out in the living room instead of my room and the other cat was outside, but besides that she is in my room at all times when I am not there, with the door securely closed.
- My cats poop is not very big. She was still a young cat so she didn't have full sized poop yet. I know this because I clean her litter box all the goddamn time, it's a party and a half. The poop under the couch was BIG and looked weird, nothing like the poops I'm used to scooping. They were about twice the diameter and much longer... like an adult cat. Like my roommate's cat. I had never seen my cat ever take a shit nearly that big.
- My cat had been in my room for all but about 1 hour in the past few days, and during that hour I was making and eating dinner nearby and would have smelled if the cat pooped in the living room (which is connected to the kitchen). My roommates cat, on the other hand, was kept inside the night before (he did that sometimes). Bear in mind that his cat doesn't have a litter box - he expects her to hold it during the nights he keeps her in and wait until he lets her outside to roam / use the bathroom. Retarded I know.
- His cat pooped in our house at least half a dozen times over the course of the year, and peed on the couch and floor way more than that (until my other roommates and I basically told him he needed to get a litter box or keep his cat the **** outside).

So, to reiterate: my cat couldn't have done it because she wasn't allowed into the living room without me being in there actively playing with or watching her, the poop could not have possibly come from my cat due to size / age factors, his cat doesn't have a litter box and was shut in all night the night before (the poop was dry so it was a day or so old), and his cat already had a storied history of shitting and pissing on the floor when he keeps her in at night.

Despite all this... he INSISTED that no, it could not have been his cat. It therefore had to be my cat. No if, ands or buts about it. His reasoning for this is that "my cat is afraid of me, and she knows that I get mad when she shits inside, so she hides when she does it because she's afraid... and she wasn't hiding so it couldnt have been her". Naturally that's bullshit. I've seen him punish his cat for pooping on the floor prior to his something like 6 hours after it happened, he just screams at the cat and pins her to the floor (he is one ****ed up cat owner, I wanted to call the SPCA on his ass but I was afraid they'd just take his cat and kill her since nobody would ever adopt that mangy, ugly thing)... and cats can't understand that you are mad because they pooped inside six hours ago and that's why you are punishing and scaring them.

I got pretty mad when he did this. I clearly laid out all the facts and reasons that it obviously could only have been his cat (I would call that list of facts pretty goddamn conclusive wouldn't you?) since the only alternative was that my cat's asshole expanded to twice its normal size and then teleported through my latched door so that she could take a shit under the couch instead of in her litterbox. Even so he insisted no, it couldn't be his cat, because he KNOWS his cat and she would be scared if she pooped inside because she knew it was going to get her punished.

He never cleaned it up. After 20 minutes of me getting increasingly angry and raising my voice about it due to his being an obstinate shithead, it ultimately boiled down to him being like "LOOK DUDE, WE JUST CAN'T PROVE IT, YOU HAVE YOUR OPINION AND I HAVE MINE OKAY, THEY ARE EQUAL AND YOU CAN'T SAY I'M WRONG" and locking himself in his room.

I was furious, but I gave up and just cleaned it up myself out of respect for my OTHER two roommates (one of whom was douchebag's gf who just rolled over and agreed with him in all matters house related because she's weak and submissive and he's a domineering abusive asshole, and the other was one of my good friends, who agreed with me on everything) since obviously nobody wants cat shit lying around and I didn't want it to become a "lets see who can stand living with cat shit on the floor longest" because I knew he was a stubborn asshole and would go for days or even weeks to prove his point.

I know this is a weird dispute to describe in detail, but I still get pissed off thinking about it and the topic of the thread applies perfectly since he basically resorted to "that's just your opinion" in the face of pretty damn irrefutable evidence that it was his cat's fault. The guy was a ****ing dick in a lot of ways... later in the year I had to intervene at 3 AM because he and his GF were drunk and butt ass naked and she was screaming and crying that he was hurting her. After he kicked a hole in her door. That was fun let me tell you. I have so many stories of what a douche he was but I won't get into them. Basically he was a total reprehensible amoral sociopath and I'm glad I never have to see him again.

tldr: cat poop. it's just your opinion man

edit: goddamn that was long... I feel kind of silly for typing all that, but it was cathartic too to remind myself how ****ing right I was about it. at least I dont live with him anymore...
 
But unfortunately, his cat does live with him. People like that ought to be shot.
 
Well, isnt saying anything along the lines of ''You're entitled to your own opinion'', ''Well that's your opiniom'' etc etc just a gentle way of saying ''I couldn't agree with you less, you twat.'' or ''Agree to disagree''.

Kinda like standing over someone but, in a 'nice' way.
 
Ennui I wanted to shoot your roommate for you halfway through your story. Why didn't you kick him the hell out??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Krynn72
You guys, what the **** is up.
Replies
11
Views
1K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
MFL
Fascinating look at the ongoing psychological evolution of flat hieirarchies.
Replies
2
Views
2K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
bbson john
Hi everyone. I am new to this forum!
Replies
11
Views
6K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
B
Barking Dog Studios' work for Valve
Replies
0
Views
11K
Barnz
B
B
Marc Laidlaw releases Half-Life 2: Episode Three's plot
Replies
32
Views
39K
BabyHeadCrab
BabyHeadCrab
Back
Top