Multitude of Opinions as Facts?
An opinion is an opinion? Right? What if one opinion is accepted by majority, then what? ... So I'm reading Bill O'Reilly's April 1rst Talkings Point Memo and he, like most news stations, was giving his view of the Terri Schiavo case:
Now all over America, people have chosen sides, which is your right to do. "Talking Points" hopes that you base your opinion on provable facts, not speculation and emotion. New scientific poll by FOX News/Opinion Dynamics indicates the following.
If you read further what this scientific polls asks you will find 4 questions: (1) If it were you, would you want the feeding tube removed? (2) Could Terri improve? (3) Who would you choose as Terri's gaurdian? and (4) Do you think Terri told her husband that she did not wish to live in such a state?
Now the first question is pure opinion and it is a valid question when considering each one's personal life, however the remaing 3 are just plain stupid questions. How does a poll of seemingly scientifically sampled people determine the validity of one's actions? Or even medical issues for that matter? I don't understand why people think she could improve? It was permanent brain damage. Isn't it wrong to let someone beleive there is hope when there really isn't? I can understand that family members couldn't let go, but wasn't she already gone? How does a poll help me know if she could have improved?
And what bothers me more is attacking the establishment of gaurdianship and the basics of that relationship. If this woman told her husband something, how can he even prove it? She could have told him countless things how can people possibly know what she said to him? It's almost as if they were never married in the first place and some random person was entrusted with this woman. That marriage was a binding establishment ever prior to courts reaffirming it.
I'm not saying what happened was wonderful or that I liked the outcome. However I do think this opinionated fury fueled by media attention and innocent arrogance really hurts society as a whole. The situation was depressing, but the fact that people cared was nice. I just hope that this case's influence on science, life and law isn't based out of opinion or scorn but rather understanding and rational thought.
Posted in: Philosophy, Television, Politics,
1 Comments:
Mike on April 4, 2005 ~ 03:03 AM
he’s just a closet freak, who acts like his principles r da last word…