Facts, Opinions, and Writing (In General)

Generally speaking is an odd thing to say, although I’m guilty of it. Sometimes it's necessary. For example, a sentence like "Generally speaking, these events go well." would be very deceiving without it. Sparingly, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s one of those fluff phrases I try to avoid though, the kind rookies think make their essays sound smart. 

In elementary school I learned not to say "I think" so often in assignments. One teacher explained, "Of course you think so, it's YOUR paper." and it has always stuck with me. It applies beyond stating facts in a research paper. A sentence as simple as “Tomatoes are red,” is a fact so much as it is an opinion. Most people would agree red tomatoes are a fact, but there are over 7,000 varieties and not all of them are red. In that case, [I think] tomatoes are red…generally speaking.

Consequently, ultimately, and therefore, that's why, often times and generally speaking, I feel the two ideas (i.e., fact and opinion) are nothing but an impressionist watercolor: blurry. Imagine if all people considered every fact with an “I think/believe” in front of it. Try it in front of something like “Water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen.” Is it? Because the reality is, how would I “know” this? The only reason I do is because enough qualified people and credible sources have told me so. But this information is only as good as our/their measurements of perception, meaning there is still and will always be an unknown. What if within every proton and electron there were vast galaxies of undiscovered matter that we can’t see because our microscopes can’t focus that far..? 

But we can’t go around thinking like this! Nothing would ever get done because we’d stand around analyzing the hell out of absolutely everything. No, nothing of significance comes from thinking this way. Except insanity and art. But art is the translator of the indescribable, and to express the unknown and intangible effectively takes a smidge of crazy. (In my opinion and generally speaking, that is.)

The ability to utilize the abundant diversity of language is an important skill for an engaging writer. Knowing how to say the same thing a different way each time is useful, and these banal phrases are practical, but I will easily bore of paragraphs structured like this:

        Therefore, we….

        Moreover she…
 
        However, they…

Nevertheless the…

*snore* 

It’s hard to clearly communicate to a vast majority without being offensive, which is why we use phrases like generally speaking. We don’t want to leave anyone out or be misunderstood. Truth is, if you don’t have a sarcastic bone in your body, you’re probably not going to get me. I’m not here to speak in general terms though. I’m here to piss you off, challenge you, inspire you, create a dialogue, create a SOMETHING inside you that makes you think.

Anyone can write, but a composer of words leads prose like a freestyle tango, and I want to make the world dance.

9/5/12