Mind Your Opinions - They Confess Your Character!
Opinions, Perspective, Cynicism, & Flourishing
“People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Cynicism, and even perhaps nihilism, can both be found when interacting with the world. Seeing such a response to regular, daily occurrences in life is far from comfortable, especially when the person is a stranger.
Surely, most people go through at least one phase of cynicism in life. Heartbreak tends to do that. The loss of innocence does as well. It is hard to view others when they are cynical about life, yet it is the easiest temptation to fall into when we are disappointed about the food the cosmos has put on our plate.
Cynicism is Tempting
Though I wouldn’t use the feeling of cynicism “pleasant”, it does seem to draw us in. We can get caught in this toxic thought pattern for days, weeks, months, years, or even a lifetime. And that’s a bloody shame.
Couple that with existential angst, and all of a sudden the relatively menial heart-break pain that you’ve been experiencing is amplified seemingly ten-fold. We can become embittered by “tragic” experiences in life, but also just from our “tragic” existence as a whole, and often times they are interconnected. All snowstorms start as a snowflake, after all.
Contentment in Suffering
At the same time, there are existing people in the world who are content with whatever life throws at them. There are people who die with a smile on their faces, who feel the pain of unpleasant situations but don’t let them affect their character. These people are deemed “virtuous”, and they have the opposite effect on those around them as cynical people.
When in the vicinity of a courageous, wise, just, pro-social individual, we are encouraged, not saddened. We are inspired to do better, to be better.
Opinions Upset Us
It is, of course, a core Stoic idea that it is not situations that upset us but rather our opinion of them. This points to a very deep connection between opinion and character: one’s opinion dictates one’s character.
That doesn’t sound overly obvious. Isn’t an opinion just some arbitrary thing? And isn’t it outside of our control to some extent?
Yes and no.
Can We Change Our Opinions?
We can absolutely change our opinions. It isn’t easy or simple; otherwise, everyone would be walking about in a eudaemonic state. But it is possible; people do it all the time! The way to do so, practically, is to adopt a new perspective, one that is more useful.
An Example - Broccoli
Consider the person who does not enjoy broccoli. The facts are that broccoli is healthy for most people and eating it will make you feel better in the long run. It is also a fact that your taste buds don’t send the signal to your brain that broccoli tastes good.
Hence, it is not an opinion that broccoli tastes awful; it is a fact depending on the person. The opinion is that “broccoli is not good”. However, opinions can be changed with perspective.
If one looks at eating broccoli as a form of torture, then of course the opinion will be that broccoli is not good. However, if one looks at eating broccoli as a way of becoming healthier, then broccoli becomes good! Sure, it may be unpleasant to eat it, but “unpleasant” doesn’t equal “bad”.
The perspective that allows that opinion to change is a longer-term one, prioritizing health over immediate pleasure. However, there’s more than that to the equation because one must understand and accept that broccoli is healthy (and is it?). That takes listening to experts, reading studies, eating it for a while and noting how you feel etc.
We’ve taken a slight detour to discuss broccoli, but the point is now hopefully clear: we can change our opinions about things, but it takes adopting a proper perspective, and that takes time and wisdom.
Now to circle back to Emerson’s quote.
Our Opinions Confess Our Character
Because opinions are linked with character and they can change with the proper perspective, which comes from wisdom, Emerson is absolutely correct in his statement that our opinion of the world reveals our character.
Who Do You Want to Be?
I now challenge you: who do you want to be? Do you want to be the person who is cynical about life, or who bears their cross nobly? Do you want to be miserable every time you eat broccoli, or do you want to be content?
One is clearly better, but it is also more difficult. Again: if virtue was easy, then everybody would be flourishing! My advice: work on your opinions, dear Stoics. Work on your perspective. Gain knowledge, and convert it into wisdom. Experience life, learn from it, grow from it, and fight the temptation to adopt poor opinions. I must say again: it isn’t easy, but no one has ever declared life to be easy.
Stay Strong & Stoic,
Brandon