GraceK
Well-Known Member
... between giving 'advice' and giving an 'opinion''?
There seems to be great confusion on this forum between the two words in quotes above.
Advice can be interpreted, especially by vulnerable people as a direction to follow, coming from an expert on a particular matter. Advice is a very powerful word and suggests the giver is an expert on the matter.
Opinion is a less powerful word, and doesn't have the connotation that a person should agree, disagree or mimic the opinion of the giver. An opinion is simply a statement of how one person feels about a particular topic or situation.
Advice givers tend to be intolerant of others opinions whereas opiniers tend to accept that others have opinions too, which they may or may not agree with.
A forum such as this is not and should not become an advisory service because that changes it's structure and purpose and it's powerbase.
A forum should be a place where people of different levels of understanding can openly share their opinions without fear of ridicule, sarcasm or personal attack. A place where different opinions are welcome whilst the members understand that no-one who is expressing an opinion is asking another person to agree or disagree.
There are people on the forum, for example, who follow different diets and some who object sarcastically when one person who follows a particular diet and has had success with it, offers information on that diet to another member who has requested information on diet. What possible point is there in confusing newcomers with sarcastic remarks?
Rather than responding with sarcasm, why can't that person simply respond to the questioner by offering their alternative diet.
Diabetes, as far as I know, is not an exact science. This is not a competition about who'se been here the longest, who knows the most or whose opinions are the most valid. But that's what it feels like sometimes.
Sensitivity is another issue here. There have been sarcastic comments about people such as myself who have expressed that they would not wish to view posts regarding the complications of diabetes at least until they'd got to grips with the basics and got over their initial shock.
This was perceived as people like me wanting to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the dangers, which is totally untrue. There were also comments that people who didn't receive information about complications as soon as they walk through the forum door, would be unlikely to bother taking their condition seriously. That again is untrue. There are many people, like myself, who take the condition seriously from the start, work hard to get to grips with it in a methodical way and who don't want to get side-tracked by going down roads they don't need to go down initially, just because someone else wants to lead them there.
Just as I would object to someone giving me a plate and loading it up with a pile of food that was way too much to digest at one sitting I would also object to anyone loading me with information I didn't feel I could digest at any particular moment.
Sometimes when we know a subject inside out we want to share it all as quickly as possible with those we feel don't yet know enough. And all with the best possible intentions. And what WE wanted and needed in the way of information when we were first diagnosed and what we believe OTHERS want and need when they are first diagnosed - are two very different things.
That's why knowledge and the ability to pass on information isn't enough - there has to be sensitivity to how it will be received added to the equation.
Sadly, some people have been unable to see that.
There seems to be great confusion on this forum between the two words in quotes above.
Advice can be interpreted, especially by vulnerable people as a direction to follow, coming from an expert on a particular matter. Advice is a very powerful word and suggests the giver is an expert on the matter.
Opinion is a less powerful word, and doesn't have the connotation that a person should agree, disagree or mimic the opinion of the giver. An opinion is simply a statement of how one person feels about a particular topic or situation.
Advice givers tend to be intolerant of others opinions whereas opiniers tend to accept that others have opinions too, which they may or may not agree with.
A forum such as this is not and should not become an advisory service because that changes it's structure and purpose and it's powerbase.
A forum should be a place where people of different levels of understanding can openly share their opinions without fear of ridicule, sarcasm or personal attack. A place where different opinions are welcome whilst the members understand that no-one who is expressing an opinion is asking another person to agree or disagree.
There are people on the forum, for example, who follow different diets and some who object sarcastically when one person who follows a particular diet and has had success with it, offers information on that diet to another member who has requested information on diet. What possible point is there in confusing newcomers with sarcastic remarks?
Rather than responding with sarcasm, why can't that person simply respond to the questioner by offering their alternative diet.
Diabetes, as far as I know, is not an exact science. This is not a competition about who'se been here the longest, who knows the most or whose opinions are the most valid. But that's what it feels like sometimes.
Sensitivity is another issue here. There have been sarcastic comments about people such as myself who have expressed that they would not wish to view posts regarding the complications of diabetes at least until they'd got to grips with the basics and got over their initial shock.
This was perceived as people like me wanting to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the dangers, which is totally untrue. There were also comments that people who didn't receive information about complications as soon as they walk through the forum door, would be unlikely to bother taking their condition seriously. That again is untrue. There are many people, like myself, who take the condition seriously from the start, work hard to get to grips with it in a methodical way and who don't want to get side-tracked by going down roads they don't need to go down initially, just because someone else wants to lead them there.
Just as I would object to someone giving me a plate and loading it up with a pile of food that was way too much to digest at one sitting I would also object to anyone loading me with information I didn't feel I could digest at any particular moment.
Sometimes when we know a subject inside out we want to share it all as quickly as possible with those we feel don't yet know enough. And all with the best possible intentions. And what WE wanted and needed in the way of information when we were first diagnosed and what we believe OTHERS want and need when they are first diagnosed - are two very different things.
That's why knowledge and the ability to pass on information isn't enough - there has to be sensitivity to how it will be received added to the equation.
Sadly, some people have been unable to see that.
