1.21 / What did your opinion cost you?

I almost didn't post our last episode. We set out to talk about principles and preferences, and I felt like I was stumbling all over myself. So my co-host Nick Surface and I came back to it.

One line from this dialog became its title: your opinion is only as valuable as the price paid to form it.

What makes one opinion worth more than another?
The price someone paid to form it. If you served in the military, I value what you have to say about war. Nick adds a fair check: serving doesn't automatically make you an expert either. You still have to ask how well formed an opinion is.

What's the cheapest price you can pay?
Probably an intellectual one: "I went and read a book." A lot of people don't even pay that.

What's the difference between a belief and a conviction?
A belief is something you like and want other people to agree with. A conviction is something you would die for. Most people wouldn't die for their beliefs.

Can a preference become a conviction?
Some people turn everything into a principle. Others decide nothing is a principle, because everything is a preference. Most people just aren't clear on their principles.

Does compromise work?
I think compromise builds great families and great societies. It works on preferences. When a conflict is ideological or spiritual, you're disagreeing in principle.

Chapters
0:00 Cold open and show intro
0:52 Better coffee and an unverified internet rumor
2:37 Stumbling through the last episode
3:35 Can compromise really work?
4:23 Sure of it until you try to explain it
5:29 Why you need someone to poke holes in what you think
6:59 Beliefs vs. convictions
7:49 A conviction is something you'd die for
8:54 Losing friends over preferences
9:40 Your opinion is only as valuable as the price paid to form it
10:42 The cheapest price you can pay
12:18 Most opinions cost nothing
13:52 Can a preference become a conviction?
14:41 Two extremes: everything's a principle, or nothing is
15:14 When the conflict is ideological and spiritual
21:57 A caveat: the people you actually know
24:01 What tolerance does and doesn't mean
26:42 A disagreement you can sit down and solve
27:15 The founders disagreed and still agreed on principle

Previous: 1.20 / Have we confused our preferences with principles?
Next: 1.22 / How do you hold conviction without losing compassion?

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What is The Dialog?

Ancient philosophers used the dialog to find answers to life’s greatest questions. The Dialog is a search for truth in modern life through the lens of ancient philosophy, history, and theology. This podcast will challenge your assumptions, change your thinking and show you how to master modern living.