History Main / OpinionMyopia

The formal academic term for this phenomenon is the "false consensus effect", where a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others. It's also related to ConfirmationBias in that people tend to ignore evidence that might prove their cherished opinions are inaccurate. Psychological studies conducted in TheNewTens have given evidence that the human brain blurs the lines between facts and opinions, which becomes heightened by the strength of emotions, making it more likely for somebody to assume an opinion that they agree with is a fact.

* Generally a problem in contemporary politics, where some people who care passionately about one side of a divisive issue associate almost exclusively, online and off, with people who share or at least sympathize with their position, putting them in the proverbial bubble, and don't understand or (don't care to) why anyone would have the opposite point of view, and attribute it to naïveté, emotionalism, or stupidity. In 1984, feminist Betty Friedan said that she couldn't understand how Reagan had gotten elected, much less re-elected, since she didn't know anyone who had voted for him (She lived, at the time, in Greenwich Village).

Well, the truth is that some people genuinely like Creator/MichaelBay movies such as ''Film/{{Transformers}}'', and that works like ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' just don't appeal to everyone. If the fan can't or won't understand that, then they have Opinion Myopia. To take it further, some people even believe that what you like and dislike determines what kind of person you are.

The formal academic term for this phenomenon is the "false consensus effect", where a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others. It's also related to ConfirmationBias in that people tend to ignore evidence that might prove their cherished opinions are inaccurate.

* {{Challenge Gamer}}s look down on easy games, and can be downright offended if you dare suggest that a series renowned for its difficulty should have the option for an easy mode added (repeat, an ''option'', which they are under no obligation to actually use). This ignores the fact that not everyone enjoys such difficulty and, depending on the game, may not even be ''physically capable'' of keeping up with the game's demands. When a ''PC Gamer'' journalist [[https://www.pcgamer.com/i-beat-sekiros-final-boss-with-cheats-and-i-feel-fine/ proudly admitted to cheating]] on the final boss of ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' because of the difficulty, a Twitter user gave this memetic response that sums up the view:

* Fans of cancelled Magazine/ShonenJump series like ''Manga/Samurai8TheTaleOfHachimaru'', ''Manga/TimeParadoxGhostwriter'', or ''Manga/PhantomSeer'' can't understand ''why'' they were cancelled. They'll often complain the series weren't given enough time (It would have gotten good eventually!), blame its failure on the audience not understanding it (It was just in the wrong magazine!), and/or claim the series merely needed more promotion (It would surely sell millions if they let it have color pages!). In the worst cases, these fans might choose to believe that the series' cancellation was a conspiracy by the editorial staff, who must have had a personal prejudice against it. The possibility that the series actually wasn't popular enough outside western internet circles to justify keeping around never seems to enter their minds.

* Fans of cancelled Magazine/ShonenJump series like ''Manga/Samurai8TheTaleOfHachimaru'', ''Manga/TimeParadoxGhostwriter'', or ''Manga/PhantomSeer'' can't understand ''why'' they were cancelled. They'll often complain the series weren't given enough time (It would have gotten good eventually!), chalk up all criticism to some surface-level complaints (It was just OvershadowedByControversy!), and/or claim the series merely needed more promotion (It would surely sell millions if they let it have color pages!). In the worst cases, these fans might choose to believe that the series' cancellation was a conspiracy by the editorial staff, who must have had a personal prejudice against it. The possibility that the series actually wasn't popular enough outside western internet circles to justify keeping around never seems to enter their minds.

* Fans of cancelled Magazine/ShonenJump series like ''Manga/Samurai8TheTaleOfHachimaru'', ''Manga/TimeParadoxGhostwriter'', or ''Manga/PhantomSeer'' can't understand ''why'' they were cancelled. They'll often complain the series weren't given enough time (It would have gotten good eventually!), chalk up all criticism to some surface-level complaints (It was just OvershadowedByControversy!), and/or claim the series merely needed more promotion (It would surely sell millions if it had more push!). In the worst cases, these fans might choose to believe that the series' cancellation was a conspiracy by the editorial staff, who must have had a personal prejudice against it. The possibility that the series actually wasn't popular enough outside the fans' circles to justify keeping around never seems to enter their minds.

* Fans of cancelled Magazine/ShonenJump series like ''Manga/Samurai8TheTaleOfHachimaru'', ''Manga/TimeParadoxGhostwriter'', or ''Manga/PhantomSeer'' can't understand ''why'' they were cancelled. They'll often complain the series weren't given enough time (It would have gotten good eventually!), chalk up all criticism to some surface-level complaints (It was just OvershadowedByControversy!), and/or claim the series merely needed more promotion (It would surely sell millions if it were advertised more!). In the worst cases, these fans might choose to believe that the series' cancellation was a conspiracy by the editorial staff, who must have had a personal prejudice against it. The possibility that the series actually wasn't popular enough outside the fans' circles to justify keeping around never seems to enter their minds.

* Fans of cancelled Magazine/ShonenJump series like ''Manga/Samurai8TheTaleOfHachimaru'' or ''Manga/PhantomSeer'' can't understand ''why'' they were cancelled. They'll often complain the series weren't given enough time (It would have gotten good eventually!), blame all criticism on one or two complaints (It was just misunderstood!), and/or claim the series just needed more promotion (It would surely sell millions if it were advertised more!). In the worst cases, these fans might choose to believe that the series' cancellation was a conspiracy by the editorial staff, who must have had a personal prejudice against it. The possibility that the series actually wasn't popular enough to justify keeping around never seems to enter their minds, since after all, how could such a great series possibly be unpopular?

* A recent trend among some audiences who strongly dislike a successful film is to insist its success was somehow 'faked'. Films like ''Film/CaptainMarvel'' and ''Film/StarWarsTheLastJedi'' are popularly hated by certain audiences, and have been met with accusations that Disney (who own and produced both) had instead lied/faked/bribed the numbers to inflate the success of these movies. Of course, this is ''insane'' as it would be ''incredibly'' financially unwise to do this (as it would then force them to pay tax on the additional money they faked earning, would have to pay bonuses to the people who produced them, and the huge loss of money would be traceable, meaning that people would uncover these fraudulent box offices). In actual fact, what happened was that despite their personal hatred of the movies, general audiences ''liked'' them enough to go see them in droves, but the VocalMinority refuse to believe that ''they'' are the minority. Crucially, the portions of the audience who either like or dislike the movies most intensely have the greatest investment in broadcasting their opinion (especially online) whereas the large mass of the moviegoing public will either: like the movie when they see it, move on to the next one, and maybe stream it or buy the DVD a few months later (both ''Captain Marvel'' and ''The Last Jedi'', it may be worth noting, sold very well on home release) without any fanfare; or dislike the movie without making a deal about not liking it and move onto the next one which they might like, because at the end of the day it isn't worth becoming preoccupied with something you didn't like in the first place.

* Any MessageBoard/blog with a sufficiently strict moderation/comment policy will be accused of this. How dare the owner of the blog decide that [[InternetToughGuy some opinions]] are not worth hosting and [[{{Troll}} some people]] not worth arguing with.

* Fans of failed Magazine/ShonenJump series like ''Manga/Samurai8TheTaleOfHachimaru'' or ''Manga/PhantomSeer'' can't understand ''why'' they were cancelled. They'll often complain the series weren't given enough time (It would have gotten good eventually!), blame all criticism on one or two elements (It was just misunderstood!), and/or claim the series just needed more promotion (It would surely sell millions if it were advertised more!). In the worst cases, these fans might choose to believe that the series' cancellation was a conspiracy by the editorial staff, who must have had a personal prejudice against it. The possibility that the series actually wasn't popular enough to justify keeping around never seems to enter their minds, since after all, how could such a great series possibly be unpopular?

* A recent trend among some audiences who strongly dislike a successful film is to insist its success was somehow 'faked'. Films like ''Film/CaptainMarvel'' and ''Film/StarWarsTheLastJedi'' are popularly hated by certain audiences, and have been met with accusations that Disney (who own and produced both) had instead lied/faked/bribed the numbers to inflate the success of these movies. Of course, this is ''insane'' as it would be ''incredibly'' financially unwise to do this (as it would then force them to pay tax on the additional money they faked earning, would have to pay bonuses to the people who produced them, and the huge loss of money would be traceable, meaning that people would uncover these fraudulent box offices). In actual fact, what happened was that despite their personal hatred of the movies, general audiences ''liked'' them enough to go see them in droves, but the VocalMinority refuse to believe that ''they'' are the minority. Crucially, the portions of the audience who either like or dislike the movies most intensely have the greatest investment in broadcasting their opinion (especially online) whereas the large mass of the moviegoing public will either: like the movie when they see itm move on to the next one and maybe stream it or buy the DVD a few months later (both ''Captain Marvel'' and ''The Last Jedi'', it may be worth noting, sold very well on home release) without any fanfare; or dislike the movie without making a deal about not liking it and move onto the next one whih they might like, because at the end of the day it isn't worth becoming preoccupied with something you didn't like in the first place.

Compare ItsPopularNowItSucks, BrokenBase, BiasSteamroller, VocalMinority, and CasualCompetitiveConflict. It also tends to be a consequence of AmericansHateTingle, where viewers from another region can’t fathom how someone from somewhere else can even stand something they hate.

Compare ItsPopularNowItSucks, BrokenBase, BiasSteamroller, VocalMinority, and CasualCompetitiveConflict.

* One can either think ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' ruined literary vampires, or vampires in general, or ''literature'' in general, and that Creator/StephenieMeyer can't write worth a hill of beans, or that it's the only real vampire novel out there and that all others are just cheap imitations written by [[YoureJustJealous jealous hacks]] who only ''wish'' they could write like Meyer.

* One can either think ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' ruined literary vampires, or vampires in general, or ''literature'' in general, and that Stephanie Meyer can't write worth a hill of beans, or that it's the only real vampire novel out there and that all others are just cheap imitations written by [[YoureJustJealous jealous hacks]] who only ''wish'' they could write like Meyer.

** Ironically averted with ''Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger''. Although it is generally hated on tokusatsu forums like RangerBoard and TokuNation, ''Ninninger'' haters will usually respect the opinions of those who like it. The one exception is [=JEFusion=]. If you say you like ''Ninninger'', you will get flamed upon, called an "apologist defender" and told to "stop defending garbage". The main reason for this is that comments can be posted anonymously.

* A recent trend among some audiences who strongly dislike a successful film is to insist its success was somehow 'faked'. Films like ''Film/CaptainMarvel'' and ''Film/StarWarsTheLastJedi'' are popularly hated by certain audiences, and have been met with accusations that Disney (who own and produced both) had instead lied/faked/bribed the numbers to inflate the success of these movies. Of course, this is ''insane'' as it would be ''incredibly'' financially unwise to do this (as it would then force them to pay tax on the additional money they faked earning, would have to pay bonuses to the people who produced them, and the huge loss of money would be traceable, meaning that people would uncover these fraudulent box offices). In actual fact, what happened was that despite their personal hatred of the movies, general audiences ''liked'' them enough to go see them in droves, but the VocalMinority refuse to believe that ''they'' are the minority.

* Lurks in the depths of the perpetual SubbingVersusDubbing debate, where personal preference often boils down to whether one is watching primarily for the story or for the art. The sub side points to things like CulturalTranslation, {{Bowdleris|e}}ation, and LullDestruction while the dub side points to visual distractions and inability to multitask while watching. Not to mention the ongoing debate over which set of voice actors do the job better. This was much more prevalent back in the VHS days, when sub vs. dub decisions had to be made in the store.

* Generally a problem in contemporary politics, where some people who care passionately about one side of a divisive issue associate almost exclusively, online and off, with people who share or at least sympathize with their position, putting them in the proverbial bubble, and don't understand or (don't care to) why anyone would have the opposite point of view, and attribute it to naïveté, emotionalism, or stupidity.
** In 1984, feminist Betty Friedan said that she couldn't understand how Reagan had gotten elected, much less re-elected, since she didn't know anyone who had voted for him (She lived, at the time, in Greenwich Village).

* [[SmartMark The Internet Wrestling Community]], or the IWC. As a whole, they tend to favor wrestlers with a higher "workrate." At times, this tends to conflict with who's actually over and receiving a push in various promotions.

** A common form is if they think the content of a game is "kiddie", they will put that well above if the gameplay is any good, how the game performs, replay value, and other factors that would appeal to many gamers more than whether a game is kiddie or not. Because they don't like kiddie games, it's clear no one else will.
** Players also respond to video game reviews (seemingly more so than other forms of reviews) especially strongly in this way. Expect any review of a video game that disagrees with someone's opinions to be met with numerous comments about how the person/the site is biased and that reviews should be objective, even though an objective review is impossible; any criteria or theory you choose to follow in a review is in and of itself a form of bias. [[WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} Jim Sterling]] once [[http://www.destructoid.com/100-objective-review-final-fantasy-xiii-179178.phtml mocked this]] with an "objective and unbiased review" of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''.
*** Reviews for re-released "classic games", especially, tend to get hit with this pretty hard. If a re-released classic game gets a relatively poor or even average score from a reviewer, you can expect accusations of the reviewer being "biased towards modern games" or (in a subtle invoking of MoffsLaw) "unfairly holding the game to modern standards."

* Many either think the ''Film/BeautifulCreatures'', ''Film/TheMortalInstrumentsCityOfBones'' and ''Film/VampireAcademy'' films failed because they were a half-assed ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' ripoffs or think they failed because ''Twilight'' was so bad that it poisoned the well for other, better supernatural young-adult novels being adapted to film.

* ''Webcomic/CinemaSnobReviewsFrozen'' (a fan comic where ''WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob'' reviews ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'') spoofs this (as the source Snob videos do as well), such as Snob claiming that his need not to have certain films made matters more than if other people like those films.