Everybody is entitled to their opinions. After all, opinions are based on ones personal perspective of what we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, touch with our hands, taste with our mouths and smell with our noses (for the record, I understand theres more involved with how our bodies compute these variables than the body parts listed). But thats where it gets tricky. None of us are built the exact same way. I assume its why some may like brussel sprouts, and others do not. I ,for one, do not like brussel sprouts. I think they smell like used damp socks fermenting for days in a gym bathroom. But, enough of that...to each his own. It doesnt matter what the issue or topic is, too many of us take our opinions (which most of the time are based off nothing more than how we feel about something) and declare it as fact. More important is when there is legitimate, reputable science that contradicts our stance. We all do it - me included. Additionally, in speaking with psychologists for my film, all have said the same thing - we are influenced by our environments. We take that information and formulate a perspective. I like using the dog issue(s) for these types of examples. Being that Ive been in the advocacy world since 2007, I have met so many people who advocate for dogs (or specific types of dogs or breeds), but nobody seems to be willing to be able to work together because of our differences within subsets of the dog community. Example: Great! You feel BSL/BDL is ineffective too..., but you use shock, prong, or other tools to train. Youre not my friend. Oh, you feed your dog a raw diet? Thats disgusting...Youre not my friend. You bought that dog from a breeder?!? I dont like you, youre not my friend. Im sure you get the point. After we dissect each relationship and find out their beliefs on other related parallel topics, we end up not being able to work with anybody. So instead of the us vs them, it becomes thousands of independent groups of us vs them. How exactly does that benefit anybody? In the case of BSL, the proponents of these laws are becoming more organized and unified than us, so dont be surprised when/if BSL makes a comeback. Sadly, facts are not important. In many cases, its who does the best relaying their talking points that is able to persuade the individual listening. You see this best played out in court rooms where innocent people get locked up for crimes they didnt commit. It doesnt make it right, its just the truth. My feelings are: We dont have to lie to still be right. We at times twist things to benefit our agendas. Also, too often I see how we use our opinions as fact, find supporting evidence to perpetuate our opinions and then dont realize we harmed the very cause we advocate for, whether intentional or not. Its the reason why we have such a variety of opinions about these dogs (ie...only experienced people should have them, you cant have two in the same household without having fights, etc.). Sigh. Last, too often we try to simplify complex issues with resolutions that are not multi-layered. Theres many moving parts to the equation that need addressed. We can all have our opinions still, and nothing Ive seen makes me believe otherwise. And thats unfortunate for many reasons...especially for the dogs. I dont know if I articulated this properly, but I give up.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 18:57:20 +0000
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