To think you can’t have an opinion on here...

[Jellybean27]

without being asked to supply evidence/context/call records and urine samples to justify it.

Jeez! 😂

Well, everyone has an opinion on here. That’s pretty much the point. I think if you are giving certain opinions, then people will ask you to back it up.

I’m guessing this is a TAAT though.

What stupid opinion were you called out on, OP? :-D

Ah yes, but if you ask for a source for their bullshit anecdata allegedly confirmed data you will be told to Google It and Educate Yourself.

What’s the context for this thread?

because there are people making batshit assertions & repeating crap they've seen in tabloid press or social media?
Like the poster who asserted that the entire under fifty population was selfish on the basis of three people arrested.

I think it’s because too many people use made-up statistics to back their points up. My husband does it all the time. Drives me crazy.

My dog's vet's uncle's friend is a scientist, and he says you can, actually.

Everyone has an opinion, it’s when that opinion is stated as a fact (obviously not personal stuff but bigger picture/societal facts) then corroborating evidence is required to back it up. How anyone can think this is unreasonable is beyond me. I also don’t think a couple of anecdotes constitute unassailable data.

My dog's vet's uncle's friend is a scientist, and he says you can, actually.

Karen on Facebook said you can't, so your opinion isn't worth shit.

YABU. You are allowed to have opinions on things on here without evidence. However, if you make unsubstantiated statements about important or controversial things, people are likely to ask for evidence.

"I reckon schools will probably re-open in September" = opinion, does not need evidence

"Schools will re-open in September" = statement - evidence required!

I know someone high up in the civil service. Karen is wrong.

Most people aren't giving opinions though, they're telling other people what they can/can't or should/shouldn't do based on their own ill informed opinions. The opinion is fine, the Policing of other people and usually using it as an excuse to be histrionic and unpleasant.

My mum's a cleaner for a scientists uncles cousin twice removed AND my dad's bigger than your dad

Do you have some hard data to back up that statement, please?

Oop forgot to add 'isn't'.

Obviously, it gets maddening when people constantly post varying riffs on "Someone down the pub said...", but there instances where mild discussions segueing towards chats are interrupted with "Source?!".
And some posters are obviously wannabe journalists.

I find the most irritating are the ones who keep asking for information that's easily Googled.
You're on the bloody internet - wear out your own posting digits.

I know someone high up in the civil service. Karen is wrong.

I imagine lots of civil servants are high right now.

Tough times so stop judging them.

And some posters are obviously wannabe journalists.

...in my opinion. No hard evidence apart from my diploma from the School of Life and my degree from the University of Common Bloody Sense (or whatever it is your one down the pub says when challenged).

An opinion and a statement are two different things.

I can be tricky getting your point across solely in writing. Some people just don’t understand how much clearer you need to be here compared to a spoken conversation irl. If you write your opinion as a statement, people are going to take it as a statement. (Funnily enough.)

My friends Dads friend works for the council and he says the next restriction is you can only go outside at ALL if you're going somewhere that no-one else has been to in the previous 3 hours cos of people coughing and it might still be in the air and then you catch it and then the NHS collapses.

83% of posters on MN make up stats to help their case.

YABU - of course you're allowed opinion.

So many people dress their opinions up as fact, which of course results in reasonable requests of evidence to prove the stand point.

If you understand opinion and fact are two different things there's no issue.

Of course you can express an opinion; that's 99% of what's on MN

Just don't state it as fact, without a reliable reference link

Ha. Wasn’t mine this time @TheStoic. Just noticed it happening a lot throughout threads. I’ll be back with a pie chart to prove it!

You can have your own opinion.

You cannot have your own facts.

Even if you think you can.