How closeminded have we become?

I wake up today, around 3pm est, and my brother tells me that he has found "the greatest song in existence". Being myself I decide to not care, yet he still played the song. After a few verses into it he states "so true". I ask him what's so true he then goes on how we don't need Blu-Ray and that the PS3 is the worst out of the 3 current-gen consoles. Again being myself, decides to ask him why he thinks that. He states: "There are no good games, there is nothing you can do online, and Blu-Ray is useless", not in that order but you get the drift. I asked him if he played a PS3. He said no, and that Halo 3 is better than any PS3 title due to sales (even though he hates Halo 3 and only plays Gears of War, Rock Band, and Guitar Hero). I asked him if he has seen the online in work, and he states that you could only go on a browser. I then asked him about Blu-Ray. He states: "There is no need for Blu-Ray, it's useless." I state that it won the format war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, and that we didn't need a DVD drive and they put that on the PS2. He then goes on to say that you can get a Blu-Ray extension for the 360, this part made me chuckle. I asked him where he gets these "opinions" of his from. He states: "From the song". Now here is my question, how closed/single minded have we become when a song, just a song, gives a person opinions based on something they have never experienced and still be able to stand on our own feet and say it is our own opinion?

very close minded have some people (sometimes even myself) have we become, we belive that what others say or what commercials say is 100% true, but without experiencing something ourselves.

I don't think there's anything wrong with being influenced by a song, or learning something from it. Some songs have very powerful, and true, messages, and ought to be listened to and believed. But with any obtained knowledge or opinion, there is virtue in being skeptical and verifying supposed "facts." Just because you read it in a book, see it on TV, or hear someone say it, doesn't make it true. Even if you read it in many books, hear many people say it, etc., it still doesn't make any statement true as a result.

And you're right, basing an opinion of something based off of one song is wrong. I don't think personal experience is necessary, in fact a lot of anecdotal evidence can be misleading. But gathering a variety of evidence from a number of different sources can begin to paint something close to the real picture, and this approach should be used whenever possible. In many cases, however, it is not, and particularly in the fast paced information driven society we live in, it is often times impractical to research these matters. People are used to having immediate answers at their fingertips via the internet, and are so busy in their day to day lives they don't take time to think about things completely through. I would go so far as to say that your brother is but the tip of the iceberg, and represents a growing, but not talked about, concern of our time: Has technology increased our level of knowledge, or decreased it? Has it made communication easier, or more difficult? Has it made researching information easier by putting all bits of information related to a topic together, or more difficult by mixing in non-credible information with credible info? Are we too impatient to truly learn anything anymore, why are we so eager to accept other people's opinions on different matters?

An interesting topic, no doubt. I will be watching this thread closely.

True movies, games, music, books, tv, etc. all can give a person a legitimate opinion but, does a single song give someone that legitimate opinion? I ask this because that is what happened with my sibling, who by the way didn't even know who developed Blu-Ray and doesn't even know what a port is. When he stated that MGS4 would never be as "good" as Halo 3 due to the fact of sales (which surprised me due to him openly stating that Halo 3 was garbage), my rebuttal was that how can you compare the two when it comes to sales, since one is geared toward the mainstream and the other is geared more towards the hardcore, he scoffed at that statement. Not only did this song give him an opinion in which he began to think that he was an "expert" you know, like the ones we see on Faux news and such, that his opinion was the absolute truth, and it was near impossible to even try to argue his so called "opinion". I would have taken him more serious if he had had more experience and research done.

In my short 42 years on this earth I've found that lots of folks just like to take a side for the sake of argument alone, right or wrong be damned.

agreed.

for the sake of argument.

Blu-Ray is worthless? If it's making millions and has defeated HD-DVD...and is quickly killing off the DVD format...I don't consider that "Useless".

No good games? More like "I'm blind and Halo 3 has engulfed my vision of other games outside of Microsoft".

I love Halo, don't get me wrong, but you can't focus on 1 game at all times. Just virtually sad and impossible.

"get a Blu-Ray extension for the 360". Furthermore, this statement is invalid and not truth. Microsoft will not and has denied this for months now.

A Browser? So he's seen one of the features.

I don't want to sound biased, but I will always defend a system no matter which format it is. I love 360, Wii, and PS3. Each one always has unique and satisfying features

Yeah guys that is why I'm forever going to love the GAMECAST console the best out of the systems. LOL You can't beat it in a million years cause it comes with what ever my little mind can put on it. Just got done popping my popcorn on it and am getting ready to play some Halo 3 then some MGS4 on it and after that its printing me off some movie tickets. LOL
GAMECAST FOR LIFE