No Opinion

In which I share my deeply held opinions

“What if I didn’t have an opinion about this?”

That’s my favorite question in The Daily Stoic Journal^⁠¹ so far. And, yes, I recognize the irony contained in that statement. But let’s move on…

The question has gotten under my skin and become a part of my daily life. It’s allowed me to — after being a real challenge to — walk away from assholes, shut my mouth, and laugh at myself.

The Daily Stoic Journal presents weekly a tenet from stoicism with a brief introductory paragraph and a few quotations from the likes of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, etc.^⁠² The journal then offers a daily question and space to reflect in the morning and in the evening. It’s come a just the right time for me, which is, I believe, the only way advice and philosophy can arrive and get under one’s skin.

“What if I didn’t have an opinion about this?” was the question way back on February 9. I wrote for my morning reflection, “No opinion, no attachment.” Even for me that’s laconic.

I was trying to figure out “a truth,” that is, something I believed and could support with evidence. Because, having been trained as a historian and undeniably now being a historian to the core, I am keen to distinguish between opinion and interpretation, so I was trying to figure out an interpretation that was true.

In the evening reflection I became downright verbose:

“If I don’t have an opinion about something, in what way does it exist for me? Like a rock on a path^⁠³ I’m walking — part of the route and scenery but easily forgotten?

“Looking at something or a situation without having an opinion could well allow me to assess it more logically, dispassionately, functionally, and maybe I could note a flaw and even the cause of the flaw. Or maybe I could just assess, see it for what it is in its context, and leave it be — the way I interact with most art that does not stir emotion in me: I see it and understand it but it has no hold over me.”

Sometimes the space for the reflection appears bewilderingly large, sometimes frustratingly small.

One of the introductory quotations for that week was:

“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”⁴ -Epictetus, Discourses, 2.17.1^⁠

We need more interpretation, less opinion, don’t we? When you say, “here’s my interpretation on the matter…,” it implies that you’ve weighed various evidence, considered multiple angles, and given it some thought. When you say, “here’s my opinion…,” it implies you’ve woken up in the morning.

To let go of one’s need to hold onto one’s opinions is to free oneself to see more clearly. (Still laconic, but a bit more accurate.)

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If you have an interpretation about this post, why not share it?

1. Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. The Daily Stoic Journal: 366 Days of Writing and Reflection on the Art of Living. Portfolio/Penguin, 2017.

2. This last week in June is one of the best tenets: “the obstacle is the way”; …but there is just another opinion.

3. The rock on a path may not have been the best example because from my last vacation I came back with a bag of beach stones that were too beautiful in their simplicity.

4. I wrote in the margin, “Put on a syllabus or a first-day handout.” I will, as I am getting ready to leave the nest of sabbatical and go back to teaching in the fall.