Against Opinion

Actually, I have nothing against opinion per se. The question is how do we come by it and what do we do with it?

I am all for knowing yourself and trusting your gut, but the opinion-judgment two-step doesn't aid the discussion of perfume. "I love this! (therefore) It's the greatest perfume ever!" and, "I hate this! (therefore) It's terrible!" are equally unhelpful starting points for a meaningful exchange. Granted, 140 characters or the choice either to "like" or take no action are constraints as well, but I have seen some remarkably concise creative writing on perfume in just this context.

Oh, I have written some uninformative and remarkably uninteresting reviews of perfumes. Because of this, I am trying to set myself a goal that if I don't have some point greater point than simply reviewing a perfume, I won't write about it. I am not looking to persuade anyone to my own opinion and perfume isn't a consumer product to be rated. Perfume has a different meaning to me than shampoo does.

Any discussion of aesthetic work has an emotional component and finding the perfume that you love is a thrill, but why does like/dislike not only end the discussion but define it? Emotional responses to perfume can be as complex and fluid as evaluation and analysis. They deserve as much effort as criticism does. Skipping the emotional exploration of perfume inhibits the introspection that art encourages.

The explosion of perfume writing and online perfume communities promotes interaction, but much of the discussion is limited by numeric rating systems, thumbs up/thumbs down and recommend/avoid. Opinion as the overriding criterion for viewing perfume leads to a presumption of authority and prejudices judgement over investigation. The medium is the message and calling anyone who cares to make a comment a reviewer mistakes opinion for expertise. A dozen or a hundred reviews doesn’t amount to a discussion, and the lack of interaction highlights how little responsibility is assigned to judgement.

We do have an authority to talk about perfume, but it doesn’t derive from the ability to parley notes and materials or pronounce verdicts. Our experience wearing perfume, our love of it, the way that we carry it through our lives, the contemplation we give it. These are the sources of our authority.

from scenthurdle.com