Human opinion is an organ of expression of the mind, with which personal as well as traditional experiences are processed and expressed in interaction with one’s own tendencies and value judgments. Opinions can be a weighty tool in everyday social life, but they can also lead to massive discomfort.
What is opinion?
A person’s opinion culminates values, ideals, social and natural perceptions, and personal desires. A person’s opinion is where values, ideals, social and natural perceptions, and personal desires culminate. It is formed from an objective component, which is applied to man from the outside, and a subjective component, which comes from man’s personal aspirations. Thus, on the one hand, man’s view of the world is shaped by his genetic predispositions. On the other hand, it depends on the imprint of the environment in which he grows up, is educated and develops spiritually. In most cases only a fraction of the opinion arises from an independent way of thinking of the personal cognition. This is because in human communication, streams of opinion have considerable influence in directing social norms, values, and behaviors. Opinions can be formed and modeled. They are not a fixed, crystalline entity. Nonetheless, the term opinion refers primarily to an actual state of affairs, based on experience and precedent, which for the time being seems irrefutable.
Function and task
The first advantage that arises for a person from his ability to have an opinion is improved orientation. An opinionated person can better navigate the confusing world. In addition, personal opinion helps in decision making. The human brain is able to set up various alternative scenarios for important selective processes and to think up consequences. A person with clear values and convictions is able to make tricky decisions much more quickly and without hesitation. Opinion thus affects not only a person’s inner orientation, but also his behavior, habits, and outward appearance. For people without opinion, an inescapable urge to make decisions can pose a real dilemma. Lack of opinion can end up in a mental quandary on one side. People without opinions usually find it difficult to find their identity and social orientation. On the other hand, in some situations it is opportune to dispense with a strict opinion. In the interpersonal sphere, opinions have a unifying and identity-forming function. People with the same opinion can understand each other without much effort and thus create a fruitful basis of trust. This trust opens up the opportunity for strong cohesion and a high sense of solidarity. Through opinion as a unifying organ, like-minded people can join together and initiate social processes. In today’s widespread democracy, political opinion is an important asset. Political opinions are represented by large party bodies. The worldviews of these larger bodies can influence the politics of a country and affect the lives of an entire nation. Today, freedom of expression prevails in many parts of the world. This allows humanity unprecedented international and intercultural communication. Freedom of expression allows people to freely develop their intellectual constitution and stimulates debates. These can have an extremely fruitful and stimulating effect on individual and social coexistence and set new stimuli.
Diseases and ailments
However, the versatility and general boundlessness of opinion also has its disadvantages. Individuals with an extremely one-sided opinion often fall for radical views. These are then often valued more highly than a harmonious exchange of ideas. Radical opinions not infrequently drive to psychological and also physical violence. With this radical shaping of the opinion one speaks also of an ideology, a world view, which influences and steers humans in its entire existence. Furthermore, there are many people who have problems in finding an opinion. They are either more easily influenced and voluntarily give in to dangerous tendencies, such as radical ideologies.On the other hand, the compulsion of opinion in today’s society can also cause physical problems. In some situations, there are an equal number of positive and negative aspects for two opposing opinions. Accordingly, it is difficult to make a decision according to rational standards. People without a preconceived or quickly prepared opinion experience such exceptional states as immense stress situations. They feel oppressed, constricted and don’t know what to do. In special cases, the stress factor in such a dichotomy can even cause extraordinary phenomena. For example, people facing inescapable decisions of great importance take refuge in physical paralysis. Psychosomatic paralysis is not common, but in a tricky situation it may well lead to complete immobility and dysfunction of individual parts of the body. In contrast, some people who often make important decisions based on their opinions show symptoms of burnout over time. Responsibility over important areas of opinion can drain the psyche without being noticed during the process. In a burnout, mind and body alike slacken from the overload. One feels weak, debilitated and vulnerable to depression and discontent. Burnout syndrome inhibits both productivity and the sufferer’s zest for life.
