At what age or stage in life did you start forming your own opinions?

Question

We have so many influences such as family, friends, and the media. I think people will always be influenced to some degree, and thus have biases, but is there a point in your life where you noticed your beliefs no longer aligning with the mindset of whoever you were being influenced by at the time? 
Also, how influenced do you think you are by others? And by who? I think I tend to be pretty heavily influenced by social media, but I try to recognize biases when I can and view different opinions.

Answer

Oh this is a good question. 
I grew up in a family that always watched news, encouraged discussion about current events, and sharing opinions. I’m not sure I can pinpoint a specific age, but looking back it was a lot of repeating others views until I was probably a teenager. 
One example I remember clearly was my parents made me do my first communion, but not confirmation. They left that up to me. I ultimately decided against it. My parents would have preferred that I did, but didn’t push it, and my closest friend at the time did hers, so it wasn’t outside pressure. I think that’s 15, so definitely by then.

Answer

My mother and grandma were not women who easily are influenced and always questioned everything. Strong willed and completely bad ass.
They always taught me to question everything no matter how annoying. No matter how rude it may come off. My grandma is a spit fire and when I say bad ass I mean it. 
At 10 I started always asking why and I wanted to know everything I read books, articles etc just had to read things and learn something new. I have a teach me attitude along with a why complex 😂. 
I teach my kids to be the same way. Ask questions and  be willing to learn but also don’t take no shit.

Answer

If you ask my dad, who probably knows me better than anyone else, I was born with my own opinions and have never been easily led. I don't know how true that is, but I've always been a questioner and my dad taught me from the beginning not to just blindly accept what I'm told. "Use your own brain," he said, "that's why God gave it to you." My dad has always been my best teacher when it comes to being an independent thinker.

Answer

My answer actually varies by what topic the opinion is on. I started developing my own opinions on religion in my mid-teens. I just wandered into a local Religion message board, where there were all sorts of beliefs including a lot of atheists. It was more of a religious debate board, and I ended up doing a ton of research based on questions I was seeing. My dad really encouraged me not to be afraid of questions about my faith and beliefs, but to test myself in what I believed and what others were telling me.
Socio-Political opinions came later. I've grown up in a very conservative circle. My opinions largely leaned that way longer because that's all I heard from my parents, friends, friends' parents, etc. As I've grown older, particularly in the last decade, some of my opinions have swung a little more center or liberal, notably in support of (well managed and run) social support programs. I still believe in many conservative principles but definitely do NOT align with the far-right or Trumpism. Fortunately none of my family supports Trump, either.

Answer

I always went with what I thought made people happy or wanted to hear, even if I didn’t agree. Then I had kids. I feel like becoming a mom has made me realize I don’t care if someone doesn’t agree with me. I stand for what I stand for. I accept others’ opinions, I listen to what others have to say, I am respectful but if I don’t agree with you, I will let you know.

Answer

I think I've always been a bit rebellious and felt out of step with the cultural norms where I live. I remember feeling that way as far back as elementary school. But I'm also a shy person so I wouldn't say I was very vocal about it. I just observed and questioned and then quietly drew my own conclusions. 
I really started coming more politically aware after the Iraq invasion, which happened in my last year of high school and continued into my university years. I was completely out of step with the majority of people around me with how I thought about politics. And I started questioning religion around this time too, although it had never really made sense to me. I was raised as a Christian and stopped believing in God when I was 18. 
Tl;dr I found my own path towards the end of high school and in college

Answer

Per my parents, since always. 
I didn’t believe them for a while, but now I have my own child who is very much of her own opinions. 
I do think part of it is that my parents for all their issues fostered independent and critical thinking at a young age. We do the same.

Answer

I think I have had opinions as long as I remember 😂, but my ‘adult’ opinions really formed/changed/or were confirmed around age 19-21 when I really started supporting myself and living outside of my parent’s home for the first time. When I started living in the “real world” if you will.
My parents hold very strong beliefs that they now will talk openly about now that we are all adults, but they didn’t really tell us how they thought specifically when we were kids. They more led by example.. so they grew a business and showed me what hard work looked like, and eventually what being philanthropic looked like, without every saying what people “should or shouldn’t” do. I think it’s pretty much impossible for children not to be influenced by the value system their parents express (for better or worse).

Answer

Birth? Just kidding. I would say regarding religion and politics and such: middle school/high school.

Answer

Birth. Not sure the actual age, but very very early on. It was always considered an issue that I was so strongly opinionated at such a young age, and that I often spoke up about things that I felt were wrong. It was discouraged a lot. I never listened. Exact words used to describe me were "strongly opinionated" someone my age shouldn't have been. Too bad for them. Never changed. Never grew out of it. I'll encourage my children to seek their own opinions as well. Question everything. Even me. Don't think and say and do things just because your dad or I do them.

At what age or stage in life did you start forming your own opinions?

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