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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 5912080" data-attributes="member: 8158">This is populism, a most appalling way of determining the quality of works of art or fiction (albeit a popular one). There seems to be a misconception, often touted in this very forum, that because personal preferences are simply a matter of opinion, they are thus completely arbitrary and beyond the reach of logical examination. Furthermore, any attempt to do so is simply a sign of pugnacious and argumentative behavior (i.e. a clear indicator of violating the moderators' "jerk test"). Civility dictates that when someone tells you you're wrong, you should just respect that as a disagreement. A disagreement being, after all, the most indisputable thing under the sun.Not so. Not every opinion is as utterly subjective as "I like the color green" or "I hate cashews". Most opinions are more elaborate than that. They are based on reasons, not whim, and most preferences are derived from personal standards. They may be weak reasons and lousy standards, and that can be a topic of discussion.Given all of that, I do not see the need for simple tests. Rather, people who state their opinions should be willing to discuss them. Somebody posted their reaons for not being by the Avengers earlier in this thread, and I appreciate them taking the time to back up their assessment even if I don't agree with it.All those others who only have to offer "I loved it and my kids loved it and everybody loves it, and since all of these people disagree with just li'l ol' you, that implicitly indicates your assessment is wrong" ....well, not so much appreciation there.</blockquote>

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