If “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion” just means no-one has the right to stop people thinking and saying whatever they want, then the statement is true, but fairly trivial. No one can stop you saying that vaccines cause autism, no matter how many times that claim has been disproven.

But if ‘entitled to an opinion’ means ‘entitled to have your views treated as serious candidates for the truth’ then it’s pretty clearly false. And this too is a distinction that tends to get blurred.

We choose the most convenient arguments to preach our convictions but demand bulletproof facts before we will rethink them.

It’s not just due to confirmation bias – the tendency to seize ideas that validate our views, while dismissing information that challenges them. It’s also because of distance. We’re often too close to our own arguments to evaluate them critically. To recognise our blind spots, we need other people to hold up a mirror.

I love arguing. I think it might drive my wife up a wall sometimes, but I often can’t help myself.

I love seeing all sides of an argument. I love learning new things and having my worldview shifted ever so slightly.

One of the people I enjoy arguing with the most is my father-in-law. Despite our many disagreements about people and how the world works, we always end each one on friendly terms, and more often than not, we each walk away with something new to chew on.

Doing the work required to hold an opinion means you can argue against yourself better than others can. Only then can you say, “I can hold this view because I can’t find anyone else who can argue better against my view.”