निस्सन्देह, लोकतान्त्रिक समाजमा राय राख्ने "अधिकार" सबैलाई छ। त्यसैले त आजभोलि इन्टरनेटमा जे पनि खुलेआम बोल्ने, आलोचनात्मक कसीमा नखारिएका पोडकास्टको भीड देखिन्छ। तर राय बाँड्ने "अधिकार" हुनुको अर्थ राय “बाँड्नै पर्छ" भन्ने हो र ? कहिलेकाहीँ मलाई लाग्छ — कुनै विषयमा विभिन्न कोणबाट पर्याप्त गहिरो नसोचेको भए, सामूहिक हितका लागि हामीले आफ्नो थुतुनो बन्द गरे हुन्छ। यसो गर्दा पहिल्यै हल्लाले भरिएको सार्वजनिक वृत्तमा थप हल्ला थपिँदैन। तर पक्कै पनि, यो पनि मेरै राय हो। कसैको मुख थुन्ने मेरो मनसाय होइन; यो केवल सुझाव मात्र हो। मुख्य कुरा के हो भने — सतही रायभन्दा अलि सूक्ष्म र बहुआयामिक राय बनाउने प्रयास कम्तीमा गरौं; विशेषतः संवेदनशील र गम्भीर विषयमा। अनि त्यस्तो सूक्ष्म राय बनाएर पनि तपाईं गलत ठहरिनुभयो भने (मानिस प्रायः गलत हुन्छन्), त्यो कुरा खुलाउने र आफू गलत थिएँ भनी स्वीकार्ने बौद्धिक इमानदारी तपाईंमा हुनुपर्छ। त्यसपछिको पाइला भनेको आफ्नो राय सच्याउनु वा अद्यावधिक गर्नु हो। गलत हुनु ठीकै हो, तर कम्तीमा त्यसबारे इमानदार त बनौं, र आफू पनि गल्ती गर्न सक्ने प्राणी हो भन्ने चेत त राखौं। म व्यक्तिगत रूपमा त्यस्ता अन्धाधुन्ध रायलाई "अ-विचार" (नन-थट) भन्छु — माफ गर्नुहोला, तपाईंले भर्खर जे फलाक्नुभयो, त्यसबारे तपाईंले सोचेकै छैन। दुर्भाग्यवश, हामी अहिले "अ-विचार"को युगमा बाँचिरहेका छौं।

Of course, everyone has the "right" to have opinions in a democratic society, and that is why we see so many uncritical podcasts on the internet these days freely talking about all sorts of things. But does the "right" to share opinions mean that you "ought" to share one? Occasionally I tend to think that if we haven't thought about a topic deeply enough from different angles, we should just shut the fuck up for the greater good. This would add less noise to the already noisy public sphere. But of course, that is also my opinion. I don't intend to silence people; it's merely just a recommendation. The point is to at least try to have a more nuanced opinion than a superficial one -- especially on sensitive and grave topics. And despite having a nuanced opinion, say you are wrong (humans often are wrong), you need to have the intellectual honesty to disclose it and admit that you were wrong, then the next step would be to correct or update your opinions. It's okay to be wrong but at least be honest about it and at least be aware of your own fallibility. I personally call such haphazard opinions "non-thought" -- I am sorry, you have not thought through whatever you just blurted out. Unfortunately, we currently live in an age of "non-thought".