You know the quote. There are many witticisms pertaining to opinions, but in the straight razor community, expressing negative opinions is, almost universally, taboo. Opinions that are shared so freely about how opinions *should* be expressed (yes, I catch the irony) in the wet shaving community are as varied as they are stinky.
Some believe that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. "Who am I to write a negative review?" My question is who are you to write a positive review, then? Others believe that if you don't have explicit experience with a product or service, you should refrain from sharing your opinions on it. These are opinions that don't make a lot of sense to me. Let me explain.
I have never had this misfortune of being homeless. Growing up, I was blessed with parents who provided everything a young boy could want and they loved me dearly. Luckily, I've never been abused physically, emotionally, or sexually. Do I have to experience such things to have an opinion on how unfortunate those are? Of course not. I'm demonstrating absurdity by being absurd.
Similarly, I don't need to have experience with the mostest and bestest new razor, hone, soap, strop, etc. to have an intelligent, well-informed opinion on them.
Consider this: I've never used a Filarmonica 14 EPBD, but I've used many vintage, new production, custom, and NOS vintage straight razors. Is it unfathomable that I could have, and share, an opinion that the prices they fetch on eBay is more than the merits of the razor would indicate? I don't think so, and here's why. It is very common for people who buy them to complain of their poor quality scales. Why is that? Because they are cheap and poorly made. Mere months prior to their astronomical value increase, they were simply another razor brand that sold for a very modest price.
When they were pulled off the market, the price shot through the roof because of the comments of a few respected members of one of the major forums. It's not uncommon for the value of things to increase under such circumstances, but that doesn't mean the prices weren't crazy. This is demonstrated more clearly by considering that razors with a better reputation for quality (Friodur) can be found in similar styling for significantly less money on a regular basis. Now, just because my opinion isn't based on having spent the >$600 to buy a Filarmonica, that doesn't mean it's invalid.
I will say trying to force that opinion on others would be wrong, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with expressing such an opinion.
The same can be said for anything in the shaving world. I feel that spending $900 for the Shapton GS system (including pond, lapping plate, all the stones) is crazy when compared to the Naniwa SS series complete set price of $371 (point of clarification: I bought the Shaptons but do not own the Naniwas). There are too many people with experience who speak very highly of those Naniwas for me to not trust that they are good stones. That's an informed, valid opinion.
Similarly, I feel that spending a $100 for a vintage soap or $60 for a high end cream like Domenico Caraceni (which I don't own) is perfectly fine. You see, your shave will only be as good as its weakest component. Poor software, hardware, or technique will result in a poor shave. So, splurging is perfectly acceptable... But wait a second, when someone has good things to say about products that they haven't used, people usually are fine with that.
Enter Hart Steel razors, new formula Penhaligon's English Fern soap, and any other product that comes to mind that causes controversy. In many cases, the rebuke on the forums is that you cannot express an opinion if you have not bought it. One forum, which ironically prides itself in being a bastion of free speech, even has such a sentiment in their official rules now.
Back to demonstrating absurdity; I've never been shot in the face, and I've never been crippled... those things would be bad. Before you say that's apples and oranges, I've literally heard testimonials of those who have had those things happen to them and say they are truly blessed because it changed their perspective on a lot of things. They are glad it happened to them... I still say it would be bad. Although, don't knock it til you try it!
Do I have to have bought a >$1000 Globusmen razor to know that it's too much? Yes, I know that something is worth what two are willing to exchange for it, but having shaved with hundreds of razors, I know that price has little to nothing to do with the shave quality.
I recently honed a Dovo Best Quality razor (about as cheap a new production razor as you can get) for a gentleman half a world away, and it delivered as good a shave as anything I've ever used. Even if the $1000+ razor was "better", I don't care because there's no way the difference would be worth it to me... As Mark Twain quipped, "I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts."
Another problem is the specious notion that personal experience is more valid than someone who has thoroughly studied a subject on many levels with a broad perspective.
An example from my work: a surgeon has a strong opinion that a particular approach has a lot of problems associated with it that makes it unworthy of being used because he had difficulty on 3 cases. However, hundreds of his peers are successfully and safely doing that procedure with the "risky" approach. What's the problem? He practices medicine based on anecdotal experience rather than thinking he might need to adjust his technique. So, my opinion on that based on peer reviewed data and the anecdotal experience from opinion leaders around the world is valid although I've never "performed" the procedure.
Twain also said, "Sane and intelligent human beings are like all other human beings, and carefully and cautiously and diligently conceal their private real opinions from the world and give out fictitious ones in their stead for general consumption."
Perhaps sharing my honest opinions demonstrates that I'm not one of the "sane and intelligent", but one thing that seems certain to me is "the recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge." (Elbert Hubbard)
