“People should stop saying ‘in my opinion', or ‘I think', before every point they make. Who else's opinion would be, [Tampa Bay Quaterback] Jeff Garcia's”?
The first time I read or heard somebody express this sentiment, I was mildly amused. By the 10th time, I was bored. Now, it's getting kind of annoying.
Look, there's some merit to the fact that many people should speak with more authority. But the fact remains that those phrases are useful to distinguish between something that one is asserting to be fact, and something that one is merely offering as a hypothesis. Is it really that hard to understand the difference?
“New York City has five boroughs.”
“In my opinion, Staten Island is kind of unattractive.”
You see how in one unprovable (though quite probably true) example the speaker acknowledges the non-factual basis of their assertions? Some people “think” abortion is wrong, based on their own intuition and understanding of science. These people are letting others know, by this little word “think” that they are at least somewhat understanding of other viewpoints. Saying “abortion is wrong” implies some sort of absolute knowledge, which is easily refutable.
At least that's my opinion.