Gate 17 · Opinions

What it is like

You have an opinion before you gather the data, and you are often right. An opinion offered without facts, though, can sound stronger than it deserves and is then hard to take back.

When someone close has it

Someone with this gate quickly says what they think and can back it up with logic. Asking about the facts behind it keeps the conversation moving instead of stuck in an argument.

A question for today

Which of my opinions can I check against the facts today?

The six lines of gate 17

1. Line 1 · Past the Doorstep

   This line checks the ground under an opinion before it is spoken. You find it easy to step outside your own yard, compare your view with sources and with people beyond your circle, and only then stand by it. When the data runs short, you may change the rules halfway through a conversation, because the ground under you feels too soft to build anything on.

2. Line 2 · View on Call

   Here an opinion arrives without effort, as if it were ready before anyone asks for it. It ripens best in quiet, and only somebody's question draws it out. You may find it easy to cling to a fresh, loud voice and pass over a calmer one that has known the matter longer. When nobody asks, a view can ripen in you for a long time and come out only once it is no longer needed.

3. Line 3 · Revised View

   This line builds an opinion through what fails in it. You state a claim, hold on to it, watch where it cracks and trade it for a better one, and every mistake stays with you as solid knowledge. The people you agree with come and go along with your views. From the outside this can look like wavering, though it is simply the way your view gets tempered.

4. Line 4 · Voice Among Friends

   Here an opinion works through the people you know. Your view travels furthest when you share it with friends, colleagues and the people you live with, because they trust you before they check the data. People who think alike gather around you easily. When what stands behind a view is a wish to be followed rather than sincerity, the same network starts carrying things you would rather not sign.

5. Line 5 · Everyone's View

   This line makes others hear a ready solution in your opinion, even those who barely know you. Your view sounds practical and general, as if it fitted every case, so people gladly lean on it. It works best when you support what is good instead of pointing out faults. When the solution does not work, the expectations come back to you as a grievance, though nobody asked about the data it stood on.

6. Line 6 · Conviction from Afar

   Here an opinion ripens at a distance. You watch, gather and compare for a long time, and over the years your view stops being a comment and becomes the way you live. Others learn from how faithfully you keep to what you hold to be right. From that distance it can be hard for you to speak up at all, and what you know best stays with you too long.

The centre of this gate

• Ajna

Channels through gate 17

• 17–62 · Acceptance