Forgive me if I get a little up my own ass for a minute, but I think that the key sign to whether or not an opinion is rational is if it could be disproven. For example, religion isn’t rational because it’s based on faith. It’s still valid, just not rational.

You can show a religious person (myself included) stats on the probability of life spontaneously appearing and make philosophical arguments all day long and we’ll still not change our opinion. Why? Because it’s based on faith, not logic or evidence.

For me, being pro ship isn’t based on faith. If you showed me solid data proving problematic ships are harmful, I’d switch sides. Sure, I’d definitely investigate to make sure the data is accurate and all that, but I would shift my entire online persona and opinions to fit it.

This is why I feel my pro ship opinions are rational. When I think about my opinions on other issues, I put them through this test too. I encourage other people to do the same. Think about your opinions. If there’s no situation that could change them, maybe they’re not rational.

There’s nothing wrong with being irrational. Like I said, I have religious faith myself and that’s not rational. But I don’t try to convince other people that my religious beliefs are better than others. Why? Because faith isn’t worth arguing.

There’s no argument for or against a belief based on faith. It’s pointless to argue because facts won’t change it. But rational opinions can be changed through discussion and can be proven with facts. If you think a rational opinion is important, it’s worth your time to argue.

So what does this have to do with discourse? Well theoretically discourse is about finding the best rational opinions. We argue and reach the optimal conclusion for society as a whole. But to do that, we need to be able to have an argument and change minds.

Some people in discourse are never going to change their minds no matter how many facts you throw at them. They take their opinions on faith. Don’t be one of these people. Question your opinions to see if they’re rational. Otherwise you’re only making discourse harder.