It could have been a sincere belief, or maybe just an uninformed opinion. Perhaps you debated with the person who held the conviction, or maybe just ridiculed him/her. Or maybe you did nothing at all. Your conviction simmered quietly in your mind underneath your casual and uninvested smile.
We live in an age where it's easier than ever to be convicted. Of course, I mean this in both senses of the word. It is both easier to be wrapped up in beliefs, and to shut them down.
Our vast information technology allows beliefs and ideas to grow at incredible speed. Movements can start overnight. An impression can be compared with the opinions of thousands of other people to give it pseudo factual status. If one is interested in a topic, the information is out there. Blog posts, news articles, videos... you can search to your heart's content. The result of all this is that one can easily form strongly held beliefs with plenty of qualified research with relative ease.
But shutting down these beliefs has also never been easier. With smartphones becoming so ubiquitous, simple factual inconsistencies rarely live past a few minutes before being slain by google. To a certain extent, this mentality has extended to opinions as well. A high opinion of a movie with low review scores for example, can lead another viewer to cite sophisticated reasons as to why said movie was actually terrible.
What does this double edged sword of information ultimately mean for conviction? This is a complex question that has no easy answer. But here are some basic ideas that I have been thinking about lately.
My age group seems to be afraid to have conviction. Because of the depth and ease of access of sophisticated counter beliefs, one's own research and personal experience is rarely enough to convince a person, let alone a person who has an opposing opinion. Information technology also allows opinions to gain support to levels that have never been seen before. One can now invest in opinions that are mostly shared by individuals from all over the nation, or maybe even the world. Opposing such views can be a daunting task indeed.
The result is what many have observed to be a widespread tone of casual disinterest. No matter the subject, we seek the compromise or simply cite some widely held belief with no personal investment in our words. But underneath it all, people are passionate beings. We may hide our passions or deep beliefs, but they are there. But what happens to a conviction untested? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Our vast information technology allows beliefs and ideas to grow at incredible speed. Movements can start overnight. An impression can be compared with the opinions of thousands of other people to give it pseudo factual status. If one is interested in a topic, the information is out there. Blog posts, news articles, videos... you can search to your heart's content. The result of all this is that one can easily form strongly held beliefs with plenty of qualified research with relative ease.
But shutting down these beliefs has also never been easier. With smartphones becoming so ubiquitous, simple factual inconsistencies rarely live past a few minutes before being slain by google. To a certain extent, this mentality has extended to opinions as well. A high opinion of a movie with low review scores for example, can lead another viewer to cite sophisticated reasons as to why said movie was actually terrible.
What does this double edged sword of information ultimately mean for conviction? This is a complex question that has no easy answer. But here are some basic ideas that I have been thinking about lately.
My age group seems to be afraid to have conviction. Because of the depth and ease of access of sophisticated counter beliefs, one's own research and personal experience is rarely enough to convince a person, let alone a person who has an opposing opinion. Information technology also allows opinions to gain support to levels that have never been seen before. One can now invest in opinions that are mostly shared by individuals from all over the nation, or maybe even the world. Opposing such views can be a daunting task indeed.
The result is what many have observed to be a widespread tone of casual disinterest. No matter the subject, we seek the compromise or simply cite some widely held belief with no personal investment in our words. But underneath it all, people are passionate beings. We may hide our passions or deep beliefs, but they are there. But what happens to a conviction untested? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
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