Opinions are ideas that we grab as they are flying by in the mind at the time the need for an opinion exists.
Considered opinions are based upon some thought and study; they are developed before the need for an opinion exists or after the need exists but the response is delayed until due consideration is accomplished.
Judgments are conclusions reached after careful study and analysis. Judgments are hard to come by and represent the best that is available in the mind at the time needed. Judgments I suspect are often things of pride because they represent my understanding of a matter—they represent what I am about.
Sophomoric judgments: sophomoric—conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature. A sophomoric judgment is created at a special time in a person’s life, it comes after the individual has gained some knowledge, often extensive knowledge, but the individual is not yet a mature adult. It is a phase of life for many of us and apparently just comes naturally. I suspect it is an egocentric impulse that cannot be denied.
I suspect most of us have had the sophomore ecastasy.
i would say we should treat all our judgements with an open minded skepticism. Ignorace is innate in humans, knowledge is a process. When we aquire knowledge we should not stop questioning, this leads to stagnation. We have to be reactive and responsive in our thinking and equally as concerned with the future as we are with the present.
Everyone has thier share of falsity, its a part of the learnng process. Plato talked about 2 types of ignorance in one of his early works, the 1st kind is a good starting point the 2nd kind is an obstacle on the path of learning that has to be removed before any progress is to be made.
How can you learn someting you already know? be open minded to change.
Trevor says–“starting point the 2nd kind is an obstacle on the path of learning that has to be removed before any progress is to be made.”
Trevor I agree with most of what you say and I would like to add something for consideration to the quoted statement.
I do not know what Plato meant by this 2nd kind but I am inclined to say that our big obstacle is the irrational tendencies inherent in our egocentric and sociocentric influences.
the way i understood it was the 1st type of ignorance is the innate state of the human mind, void of pertinant information. The 2nd kind is falsity.
what would be an irrational tendancie brought about by our egocentric influences? and socieocentric influences?
If given an example of a particular irrational tendancy brought about by these influences , im sure i would have a better idea as to what you mean, i am fairly new to this and not quite familair with those ideas.
do you mean that accepting someting as fact because it is status quo would be one of these tendancies? or considering a belief of yours as a universally held one because it seems “common sense”?
Trevor says–“what would be an irrational tendancie brought about by our egocentric influences? and socieocentric influences?”
Being egocentric is to believe that it is true because I believe it is true or because I want it to be true. Sociocentricity replaces the ego with the group. We believe that it is true because I am an American and America is always right. Or it is right because I am a Democract and Democracts are always right. These irrational tendencies prevent us from being rational at times.
