I Feel? I Think? I just don't know.

By Thain Simon

We say it all the time  "I feel like our midterm won't be too hard."  "I feel like the Packers will win the Super Bowl on Sunday." Where we might have once used "I think," we say "I feel."  

The expression has become common in all manner of speech, even for professional communication. A recent Wall Street Journal article quoted a Bank of America spokesman as saying, "We feel that our pay practices are fair and appropriate..."

Sometimes, we might actually mean to express a feeling, as in "I feel like college has flown by"  But often, we use "I feel like..." instead of "I think that..."  In this context, we state a thought and disguise it as a feeling. But this manner of speech can be misleading. Bank of America, for example, didn't determine its pay practices are fair based on their feelings, they made a series of rational judgments leading to a reasonable conclusion.  

Similarly, I don't really "feel" that the Packers will win; rather, I "think" that they are the better team. It's easier to say we feel something than it is to say we think something. Feelings are subjective and more difficult to argue than ideas.

If I say, "I think the Packers will win," someone will surely respond, "I think you're wrong." However, if I say "I feel like the Packers will win," that same person will probably still think I'm wrong, but won't bother to argue the point since I'm expressing an emotional inclination rather than a judgment.

Convictions about the Super Bowl probably don't need thorough examination, but as the expression "I feel" takes the place of "I think" more often, we have to understand the implications of using it in the wrong context.

When expressing a thought as a feeling, by using "I feel" in place of "I think," we abandon the risks of conviction for the safety of suggestion. Our fear of being wrong prevents us from standing behind our ideas.

Instead, we offer our ideas as feelings and avoid discussion about the merits of those ideas. In doing so, however, we lose a valuable opportunity to express our ideas and have them be examined or tested.

As a community, we benefit from exchanging and challenging the ideas of others. However insignificant it may seem, using "I feel" in the wrong context stifles important dialogue.

This sentiment was well expressed on the popular television program Def Jam Poetry, in a poem entitled "Speak with Conviction" by Tayloy Mali. In it, Mali advises the crowd,  "contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker, its not enough these days to simply question authority you've got to speak with it, too."

In the book "Atlas Shrugged," author Ayn Rand implores the reader to "stand on the verdict of your mind." I think we should.  

If you have a feeling, say "I feel"; if you have a thought, say "I think." Most importantly, be mindful of the distinction and stand behind your ideas.

Thain Simon is a senior finance and international studies major.