Everyone?

(Ryan writing):

I love hearing opinions. People love to give opinions. I love to give my opinion, my thought, my reaction. It really is a great thing about America with this thing called free speech and, in the church, the priesthood of all believers.

But the opinions that I love best are the ones from "everyone." Whether it is good or bad, the "everyone" opinions have always hit me funny. You know these opinions...someone comes up to you and says, "Well, everyone is really enjoying _______." Or better, "Well, everyone hates _______." There are two things we know about these people called, "everyone."

1. Everyone is not actually everyone. There is no way for one person to have fully discussed with every person involved in anything (especially if the group is over three people). So, one must ask, "Why do they say 'everyone?"

2. This leads us to the second item: the person using the "everyone" argument is trying to make their belief a "widespread" belief, thus increasing perceptional validity. They are admitting that their belief is not strong enough to stand on its own merit, rather it is more their personal thought on the issue and if shared along those lines, would seem rather weak (whether good or bad). Rather than presenting a weak argument, they attempt to solidify the overall perception by the appeal to the majority (which is a fallacy oddly enough).

Now, I don't want to paint everyone who attempts to use this type of reasoning as bad or evil. Whether positively (Everyone liked) or negatively (everyone hated) there are at least two things we know about their argument - 1) it is not actually everyone and 2) they have a weak personal argument coming and are not confident enough in the argument's own validity that they are willing to resort to a fallacy in argumentation.

Don't be deceived, however. The "everyone" type argument cna masquerade around using other terms. The following are a general indication of the truth behind the assertion:

1. "Everyone" = 3 or less people in a small group discussion
2. "A lot of people" = 3 or less people in a small group discussion
3. "Everyone I've talked to" = 3 or less people in a small group discussion
4. "Rumor has it..." = 3 or less people in a small group discussion
5. "I've heard from quite a few sources" = 1 other person, thinking more is crazy on this one.

One last warning or thought on the issue: in the case of GOOD information or GOOD feedback, the mental temptation is to actually believe that the "everyone" applies in the positive cases (I love what you're doing) while "everyone" means only a few in negative ones (I hate what you're doing). My advice is to always keep in mind the true number of "everyone" even in the positive cases. People like their ego stroked, but it does not help. The complete avoidance of believing anyone's "everyone" argument will allow you to avoid two things 1) a big head over anything positive you've 'done' and 2) removes disappointment when you learn that not actually "everyone" is so positive (and this ALWAYS comes;). The thing that I sincerely do, when this come sup in my life, is to appreciate the thought of the positive "everyone" argument - they are trying to REALLY encourage you and that does mean something.

In the ending of this thought, I just want to say that everyone that I've talked to about this always has agreed on everything said in this blog all the time in every circumstance and a lot of people are already excited about how it may change their lives.