Ravensong Poetry And Writing Blog by Donovan Baldwin

BY DONOVAN BALDWIN

If I don't know what actually caused the problem, and I don't actually know all the possible solutions (the ones which could be applied at THIS time), and I cannot KNOW the future outcome of any "solution", HOW can I KNOW that MY choice is any better than another of several others?

If my neighbor "believes" as strongly as I do, yet as without knowledge as I, in his or her interpretation and solution, what makes mine "best", or even "better"? It is a complicated world we live in.

Experts and facts can be found to support every side of any multifaceted problem or event. We hire people, ordinary people, politicians, to sort through this morass of information and misinformation, and reach decisions for us.
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They, human and limited as they are, hire other humans to hunt down, summarize, and encapsulate information on the given problem(s), and then, take it upon themselves, as we asked, to make decisions for us, based upon the results of this research... AND their own, quite human, thoughts, opinions, and beliefs.

THEN, we either idolize them and put them on pedestals reserved for the gods, or we castigate and reject them, demanding they be cast into the lowest depths of hell.

I am NOT fond of career politicians, but, I don't want their job either.

WHAT MAKES SHAKLEE PRODUCTS DIFFERENT?

Labels: beliefs, donovan baldwin, essay, opinions, thoughts

I try not to post a lot about political issues. Not because I don't care, but because I come to social media and blog in order to mingle with friends and interesting people, not get into fights.

But, there are a couple of other reasons.

I have an opinion. It may not be yours. That doesn't mean I don't like, or, even love you. It just means we disagree on something.

Sure, it's bigger stuff than which side of the plate the fork goes on, but, still, our 'opinions' are not necessarily 'facts', and, you generally need facts to form solutions to real problems, and opinions on HOW something can or should be done are not solutions.

You need facts about the problem to come up with a solution. and then you need facts about what can be done, and what the results will be when you create the solution.

People with different opinions, about the problem, about the solution, or both, can be "wrong", or at each others' throats, even if they agree on the facts.

The problem is that the facts, as the Porter Wagoner song says, "The Cold Hard Facts Of Life", are very seldom known to us...the opinionated public.

I have worked for four governmental agencies, often being made aware of real facts that the public did not know...sometimes because they were classified, sometimes because it would have taken some formal training sessions to bring 'the public' up to speed where they actually knew what was going on.

I have worked for and with some businesses, where I heard loud, long, and violent complaints from competitors, customers, and parties who didn't even have skin in the game about these organizations' motives, actions, and goals. Most of these complaints originated out of ignorance of what the organization actually intended to do, and/or actually did.

You and I are free to have and voice our opinions about the problem and the solution. In most cases, these thoughts will NOT be based on facts, at least not the real facts.

I used to do a lot of 'due diligence' tracking down the 'facts' on what people posted about political and economic issues. I gave up. Many times, the 'facts' were completely wrong. Sometimes they were twisted or misunderstood. But, in most instances, liberal or conservative, if you must have labels, there was no way of knowing all the facts.

All one could do was form an opinion...and, perhaps, state it.

It's not worth getting in a fight over opinions.

That's my opinion, and, it's not worth getting in a fight over either.

Labels: donovan baldwin, essay, opinions

By: Donovan Baldwin

A few years ago, there was a time in my life when it seemed that everything I did, everything I thought, was "wrong".

People told me, and life demonstrated, it seemed, that I was a fool.

I wanted to argue my case, "prove" that I was right. Even more I wanted "them" to know that they were wrong.

Finally, I hit on the ultimate solution: I was going to outlive everybody! That way the time would come when I could laugh at them because they were dead, I was alive, and I was "right" by default.

Over time I came to realize a couple of problems with that plan.

First, being alive didn't make me right, and, them being dead sort of took all the fun out of being right...if I WAS right.

See, that was the problem.

Ninety-nine percent of the "rights" and "wrongs" in the equation were "beliefs" and "opinions"...not facts.

It was then I began to see the real solution. Proving that my "right" was the "right" right was impossible. In fact, I could even be wrong!

That wasn't right!

Then I figured out the real solution.

I can only live and enjoy life doing what I BELIEVE is right. It doesn't really matter what others think or say about my honest beliefs.

So, they can be right, I can be right, even though one of us may be wrong.

As long as I do what I think is right, I don't need to worry about what they think is right.

Right?

Labels: beliefs, donovan baldwin, how to live, life lesson, live your own life, opinions, right, right and wrong, wrong

By: Donovan Baldwin

Some of my recent posts, and, some of my older ones, have occasionally stirred up hornet's nests of controversy.

Unintended on my part, but, bound to happen upon occasion.

When I write, I seldom really write about "facts", factual things which can be proven. I write about my thoughts, which are usually within the realm of opinions, and, as they say, "Opinions are like (fill in the blank). Everybody's got one."

I try not to claim that MY opinions are "right", or the only possible opinions...just my opinions, beliefs, thoughts.

Of course, not everyone else is going to see things exactly as I see them. In fact, their point of view may be diametrically opposed to mine.

I used to get really upset when some of this opposition surfaced. It bothered me, and, I tried to find arguments and excuses.

But, over time, I came to realize that the commentator with the opposite view had just as much right to his or her "opinion" or "belief" as I did, and, I was just getting miffed because I wanted to be right, and, like most humans, wanted everybody to agree with me.

Well, the fact is that there are many times in our lives that "most humans" won't...agree with us, that is.

That's human. So's being upset by their open disagreement, and/or inability to see facts...or opinions and beliefs.

So, I'm over it...until the next time, of course, and, that's my opinion on that.

Labels: beliefs, donovan baldwin, opinions, writing