
Why is it that we must tell everyone on the Internet that things are only our opinion?
Of course “I think” what I’m about to say. Why else would I be saying it? Of course it’s “in my opinion,” because I’m saying it. Anything said by anyone is, when you get down to it, inherently related to what they think, which is consequently their opinion. But now that they’ve been so kind as to emphasize that fact, it hurts their argument.
Here are two different statements a person can make:
A: I think that jumping off the George Washington Bridge can cause severe bodily harm. That could be fatal, in my opinion.
B: Nobody can get hurt from jumping off the George Washington Bridge. It’s actually very healthy and promotes long-life.
Now, assuming you didn’t know anything about the effects of jumping off a bridge, which of these two arguments would be more convincing to you? At first glance, without Wikipediing anything? Most of you will say statement B.
Adding language like, “I think” or “In my opinion” (or IMO or IMHO) to your arguments weakens them. You will sound less sure of yourself, or at the very least like you don’t care as much. This applies to actual speech as well as online discussion.
Some might argue that such disclaimers are common courtesy, but to the audience you’re addressing, they’re common sense. It’s not impolite to omit needless words, and doing so makes the remaining words stronger.





MG Siegler Destroys the English Language — Episode 4
An anonymous MeeboMe tipster informed me that this happened:

How inspiring. I’ve been wanting to do more of these. Thus, without further ado:
Yesterday, MG published an article called “An iPhone Lover’s Take On The Nexus One“, because apparently there aren’t enough reviews which compare the Nexus One to the iPhone. Actually, there’s no shortage of them, just like how there’s no shortage of MG Siegler’s use of the phrase “no shortage of”. Speaking of MG Siegler’s predictable writing, let’s see what he’s predictably done wrong this time:
Continue reading ‘MG Siegler Destroys the English Language — Episode 4′