Pleasant Contrarian Tips

Having a minority opinion in any community tends to get one into trouble with the community. It seems a common pattern. How does one go about having and expressing a contrarian opinion without creating ill-will?

Sure, one way is to avoid stating an opinion, but some of us just can't resist making our opinion at least known and understood. A select few seem to be able to pull it off without much trouble, but some of us have yet to identify their secrets.

Merge with DealingWithMinorityOpinions?

I was hoping for tips from successful contrarians themselves, though. DealingWithMinorityOpinions contributors do not appear to be that.

A way which may prove successful for some is to make one's expressions positive and constructive. This will have somewhat more of a chance of success than by merely opposing and denigrating opposite views (Y). In other words, support your views with examples and constructions illustrating how one might accept the validity of your view based not on personal or group opinion, but on convincing argumentation. No one likes to have their views attacked and belittled, but almost everyone will listen to a well reasoned description of why you believe that your view (X) is valid and makes sense. Why you like X may have to do with the speed with which it handles things, even though it may be more difficult to use, (when ease of use may be the reasons others like and use Y).

I have tried that with limited success. Plus, part of my position is that some things currently held as "best practices" are just personal preferences, and examples don't help there much. See DisciplineEnvy.

The key word you used is "success". Expect no more than "limited" success in your initial position statements. Pursue discussion and encourage feedback as you have already done here. "Best Practices" whether they be personal preferences or company policy, are and should be guidelines, with the proof of a practice being "It works". If something "Works Better" and you can prove it, your success rate will increase. But "hard-liners are rarely convinced to abandon what is easy to use for something which works better, if it requires what they consider additional learning or additional effort. To them "It works" good enough.

Is this related to CategoryVoting ? In some situations, people just assume that everyone else has more-or-less the same opinions/beliefs they do. Evidence that any particular person does not is explained away as "he's deviant" or "she's an extremist". Voting can help correct this incorrect assumption by showing that large fractions of the population do, in fact, have a different opinion. I know that I was surprised to discover I was in the minority on some issues.

"Sure, one way is to avoid stating an opinion, but some of us just can't resist making our opinion at least known and understood."

You might also consider some actions in-between "silence" and "making your opionion known".

I think

silence

is in a category all by itself, then there is a wide spectrum of options:

point out that you think this issue is so important that it is a good thing there is freedom of speech to make sure it is adequately discussed.
Informing someone that some issue is a matter of opinion, and that many otherwise reasonable people believe one way or the other. (EvilOrStupid)
making a particular minority opinion understood by someone who may have never even heard about that viewpoint. (FalseDichotomy; ThoseNotLikeMeAreAllAlike) Example: "Have you heard of Jainism?". Example: a U.S. citizen and a British citizen informing each other about the various political parties in their country and the rough outlines of what distinguishes them.
mentioning that I have met someone that has this opinion
mentioning that I highly respect someone that has this opinion
Mentioning that some highly-respected individual happens to have this opinion.

all can be done without revealing what opinion I hold, and then

Making my opinion known
Convincing someone to hold the same opinion I do.

(Some people are good at convincing someone to hold a opinion that these people do *not* hold -- debating teams and lawyers. DevilsAdvocate.).

"point out that you think this issue is so important that it is a good thing there is freedom of speech to make sure it is adequately discussed."

Or in general, try to find areas where you can *agree* with someone, things you have in common. Be friendly; don't go spoiling for a fight.

CategoryTips