Wikiality, Truthiness, and Gut Thinking

When reading the David Kylie Johnson chapter, the section “A Right to Your Opinion” intrigued me. As I read this section, I considered the motivation for people to use the phrase, “I have a right to my own opinion.” Is it because of the “backfire effect” and a person becoming defensive other beliefs when contracted with the opposite? I feel like I try to apply the “backfire effect” to every scenario after learning it, but I genuinely think it applies to lots of situations. I thought it was interesting how Johnson essentially proved people wrong that used this phrase for multiple reasons in a specific example, (except for the legal truth). For example, he explains that“A belief to which one has an epistemic right is a belief that is justified by rational defense and argument…he is mistaken if he thinks he has an epidemic right to his opinion,” (33). Additionally, I began to wonder if the ability to decide whether or not someone truly had a right to their opinion was relative, similar to that way that the truth in relative when looking at it like an individual and cultural realistic? Is the ability to decide whether or not someone truly had a right to their opinion based on what they are defending? For example, is someone is defining a gut reaction that turns out to be supported by evidence, are they truly justified to their own opinion?

Through the chapter, I got the impression that Johnson valued critical thinking. For example, he says that“gut thinking is ridiculous” (30). It can be inferred that Johnson is someone going against Colbert’s idea of “Wikiality” and the relativeness of truth to individuals and culture. This chapter as a whole sparked my thoughts as to whether or not the truth is relative. I then thought: If I decide that it is relative, then wouldn’t that decision could be wrong in a different culture for example? I began thinking about the truth as a whole and whether or not anything is universally true. This is something that I enjoy thinking about and hope to continue pondering throughout my life. This chapter reminded me of my love of the big questions and deep thinking in general.