I must confess that I am thoroughly fed up—down to the very tips of the short hairs I have left—with listening daily to dozens of utter nonsense utterances, delivered by creatures visibly excited by enjoying that purest form of freedom: talking about everything while bearing responsibility for nothing.
As an uncompromising defender of free expression, I stoically endure all sorts of oral and written foolishness when I cannot avoid them or when I conclude that responding to such opinions carries too high a price.
Yet, in the course of this daily suffering, I have reflected on the great mystery of national silliness in these terms: what drives so many people to feel the right or even the obligation to issue the most resounding verdict whenever some unwary soul addresses them or the flow of a simple conversation offers them the chance to be an interlocutor?
This opinionated obsession by a multitude of unfortunates with nothing of value to add to conversations causes severe harm to the victims. Because of two things: either the opinions are worth something and should be paid for by whoever receives them, or the opinions are worth nothing and the time they cost and the indigestion they cause should be paid for by whoever emits them.
I believe, therefore, that the issue is much less a matter of philosophy or psychology and much more a matter of economics.
When someone opens their mouth to transmit an opinion, they can perfectly well ask themselves whether what they are about to say is interesting enough for the recipient to reward them with, for example, 5 euros.
Naturally, if someone pays 5 euros for an opinion, it is because with said opinion they manage to generate a profit of at least 5 euros, or they probably made a stupid deal.
As I have already confessed, I have the misfortune of frequently hearing opinions with which I make zero euros, which means too many hours making stupid deals with people who also make zero from the wordiness they emit.
Because losing money is an activity that sustains no one, I want to ask all the doctors of opinions and sentences to set up shop far away from me, because it is evident that giving opinions without any value is a loss for both sides.
Furthermore, staying silent costs no money and generally causes no harm.
Paulo Fidalgo
CEO of Marketividade
